The Guardian Spirit Triliogy
by Avatar Wolfheart
Summary: Rewrite of my old Avatar stories. Xena was saved by Avatar Roku when she was a baby and became bound to the next Avatar in the cycle. As the Avatar's Guardian her job is to protect Aang, but what happens when her heart and mind are Torn Between Love and Duty. A Zuko/OC story. (I don't own A:TLA; only my own ideas and OCs) Now with new prologue.
1. Prologue: Winter

**Book One: The Avatar's Guardian/Winter**

 **Prologue**

* * *

I was born at the end of spring as the days grew longer and the darkness of night only lasted for an hour. As if that was not enough of an omen, I came into this world at dusk when for a brief moment both the sun and the moon were in the sky. It was a long and difficult birth and my mother would have died if not for the skilled waterbender healers in our tribe. As skilled as they were, they were not skilled enough to heal me. I didn't cry or scream when I was born and was barely breathing. My grandfather begged for the aid of his old friend Avatar Roku in hopes that his power would be enough.

Roku took me to the Spirit Oasis where he stood in the center of the oasis with Tui and La until midnight, healing me with a mix of airbending, waterbending, and a bending that I never knew about until after the war. Somehow in that process, Roku unknowingly bound my very life essence into the cycle of the Avatar. By saving my life, he had set me upon a path of hardship and loss, anger and hatred, sorrow and regret, and also of great happiness and love.

This is my story, but it is all the story of Roku's successor and the friends we met along our journey. It is also the story of the man I love, the bravest and most honorable man I have ever met. Of course, when I first met him, he was barely into adulthood and was - at the time - my greatest enemy.

 _ **Winter,**_ Spring, Summer, Fall

* * *

 **I present to you the prologue of the reboot of** _ **The Guardian Spirit Trilogy**_ **\- - TGST for short. This reboot will contain more creativity and originality than the old version while continuing to follow the general plot of** _ **Avatar: The Last Airbender.**_ **When I first started this series it was because I had read a lot of OC/Zuko stories and wanted to try my hand at one. However, that was nearly three and a half years ago when I was fourteen and when my writing . . . well, reflected that age. This story has come to mean a lot to me - especially since I actually managed to finish two out of three of the stories in this trilogy - and it deserves a better storytelling. Now that I am an adult and have already published my first book, I know I can finally do this story justice.**

 **So, to my old readers, I say thank you for taking the time to read my old stories and I hope you will stick around for the new spin on this tale. I also ask that you please be careful not to leave too many spoilers from my old works in your reviews.**

 **And to my new readers, I hope you enjoy this adventure and follow it to the end. That being said, you can read my old works if you wish as I will not be taking them down, but I do not suggest it.**

 **-Avatar Wolfheart**

 **P.S. If you choose to read my original novel, I actually suggest you wait as I plan to do some heavy editing and expanding on that story as it reflects the time constraints I was under to finish it. If you choose to read it anyway, 1) Bless your hearts and 2) I apologize for the quality and shortness of the story.**

 **Edit as of 11/2/17- Rewrote the entire prologue and cleaned up A/N just a bit. Beta'd/edited by a friend IRL who you can call Lily.**


	2. The Water Tribe Siblings

**Book One: The Avatar's Guardian/Winter**

 **Chapter One: The Water Tribe Siblings**

* * *

Xena knew she should have tried to stop Aang from leaving the temple, but she also knew that Aang would never have listened to her. There had been a rift between them ever since she had told him the truth. If it weren't for his pacifist nature, he probably would have pushed her out of Appa's saddle when she insisted on coming with him. They had spent the entire flight in silence up until Aang flew them straight into a storm.

"Aang, we need to land!" She shouted to him as she strapped their packs down.

"We're above the ocean, there's no place to land," He replied, tugging at Appa's reins in an effort to lead the air bison away from the storm.

Pushing strands of wet hair out of her face, Xena stood and carefully made her way toward the front of the saddle. Lightning arched across the sky with a thunderous boom that startled Appa. The bison's sudden erratic movement upset the girl's balance and she slipped on the soaked saddle before tumbling over the edge with a panicked scream.

"Xena!" Aang released the reins with one hand in an effort to grab her hand and save her.

Skin slick from the pouring rain, her hand slipped out of his. Battered by the wind and rain, Xena forced herself to spread her arms and legs out to slow her fall as the monks at the temple had taught her. Aang tugged sharply at Appa's reins, maneuvering the air bison into a dive. He drew as close as he could to Xena before stretching his hand out to her. She can feel his fear through their bond as she stretched out her own hand.

Somehow she managed to grasp his wrist tightly, the fabric giving her grip traction. Before Aang could pull her to safety, a large wave from the turbulent ocean crashed over the top of them. The freezing water yanked them apart, pushing them downward and away from each other. Her vision began to fade as she struggled to reach the surface for life-giving air.

Aang's power surged through their bond as he whipped a sphere around them and his animal companion. With the last of her strength, Xena managed to settle her hands on his shoulders in support. The last thing she saw was the water rapidly beginning to freeze around their sphere of air.

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Xena couldn't remember the last time she had slept that well. She probably would have slept longer if it weren't for the cold. In fact, the last time she had been this cold was during her training in the South Pole. She jolted into a sitting position quickly, staring in disbelief at the large hollow of snow and ice she found herself lying in.

Shivering, she instinctively scooted backward towards the warm mass that was Appa. The short sleeves of her dark orange shirt and the black capris she wore were not suited for this environment, and her black vest and arm wrappings were doing nothing to keep her warm either. Distracted by the cold, it took her a moment to realize that Aang was nowhere in sight. She quickly jumped to her feet, forgetting the cold.

Ever since Roku had saved her life as a child, Xena was able to sense the temperature of her surroundings and objects around her. It was a type of mental sight known as heat vision. It was that mental sight she used now in combination with her bond to Aang. Beyond the steep slope of the icy hollow, she could sense Aang and two others. Despite being unable to sense any fear from her young charge, Xena was still wary. Instead of walking normally across the ice, she slid each foot forward as if she was skating, muting any sound of her passage. Fully aware that she was not currently armed, she peered cautiously over the ridge of ice to assess the situation.

Her heart clenched in recognition at the sight of the blue parkas, bringing with it memories of her old home. Shaking off the memories, she returned to her observation. One of the parka-wearers was a boy who couldn't have been much older than Xena, and slightly behind him was a girl who was staring in awe at a confused looking Aang. A whale bone club with a blue leather wrapped handle lay on the ground to Aang's right. The girl did not look much like a fighter and the boy's stance was all wrong for him to be trained. He lightly poked Aang with a spear and that's all it took to cause Xena to burst into motion.

The three looked up in surprise as she quickly slid down the icy ridge and put herself between Aang and the strangers. The boy quickly pointed his spear at her only for it to be sent flying from his hands with a well-placed blow from the club Xena had smoothly flipped off the ice and into her hand with her foot.

"Xena?" Aang asked in confusion and surprise.

"Are you alright?" She asked him without turning from the other boy.

"I'm fine and I don't need your protection, Xenia."

She winced at his tone and the use of her full name. It seemed that he was still angry with her. A groan echoed across the ice from behind them and Aang quickly began to climb back over the ridge. Xena dropped the club and followed him, ignoring the still shocked teenagers.

"Aang, wait."

He ignored her in favor of checking on Appa. "Wake up, buddy."

"Aang-" She tried to start again, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He stopped trying to lift the bison's head and brushed her hand off. "Did you come with me because you wanted to or because of your duty?"

"Umm," She replied awkwardly, "I came because I wanted to make sure you were alright."

She could tell by his expression that it was the wrong thing to say. Appa woke before the young monk could respond, licking them both with a sleepy groan. Xena gritted her teeth as Aang quickly allowed himself to become distracted by the bison. Leave it to an airbender to avoid confrontation.

"What is that thing?"

Xena glanced at the two teenagers who had followed them. The boy had retrieved his spear and club and was eyeing her warily.

"Appa's not a thing. He's my flying bison," Aang replied, patting Appa on the nose.

"Right," The boy drawled, "And this is my flying sister, Katara."

So they were siblings. Xena shuffled her feet thoughtfully, noting for the first time the shape of his spear. It was a fishing spear, and while perfect for stabbing fish in the water, it was by no means a fighting weapon. But why would two teenagers be out fishing by themselves?

"Why are you barefoot?" The boy suddenly demanded. "And what's with your clothes? Do you want to freeze to death?"

"I wasn't planning for snow and ice," She replied dryly.

Appa made a low rumbling sound behind her, inhaling sharply. Eyes widening, both Xena and Aang duck as the bison sneezes, coating the boy in green mucus. She winced in sympathy as the boy made various sounds of disgust before trying to clean himself with snow.

"Don't worry. It'll wash out," Aang tried to reassure him. "Probably."

"You're from the Southern Water Tribe, correct?"

Xena directed the question to the boy's sister, but it was the boy who responded, pointing his spear at her suspiciously. "Don't answer that! Did you see that crazy bolt of light; they were probably trying to signal the Fire Navy."

"Stop overreacting. It was just a simple question," His sister replied with an eye roll. "I'm Katara and the paranoid one is my brother, Sokka."

"I'm -" Aang started and then sneezed, the explosive exhale launching him skyward. He slid back down the side of the ridge. "I'm Aang and this is . . . Xenia."

Xena flinched at Aang's hesitation before once again calling her by her full name.

"You just . . ." Sokka stared at Aang in shock. "You just sneezed and flew twenty feet into the air."

"Huh, that's a new record," Aang replied nonchalantly, looking up as if trying to confirm how high he'd flown.

"You're an airbender!" Katara exclaimed in shock and awe, clasping her hands in front of her chest.

Xena frowned. Katara's surprise was strange to her. This was not the first time airbenders had visited the Water Tribe. In fact, the monks at the Air Temple often conducted trade with the Water Tribe, exchanging fruits and vegetables for leather to craft book covers and whale bones to create beads. Xena often accompanied the elder monks to make sure no one tried to take advantage of the monks generous nature. She found the snow and ice as familiar as Aang found the Southern Temple.

"Giant bolts of light, scary girls, flying bison, and now _airbenders_ ," Sokka started, walking away. "I think I have Midnight Sun Madness. I'm going home to where things actually make sense."

He stopped shortly after making that declaration, staring at the distant ice separated from them by a large expanse of water too large to get across without having to swim. They were stranded until the water refroze, as swimming across would be suicide in these cold temperatures. In fact, Xena's outfit would be the death of her even out of the water if she didn't change soon.

"We could give you a lift," Aang suggested as Xena quickly climbed into Appa's saddle to find warmer clothes and a pair of shoes.

"We would love a ride," Katara accepted happily and took a step toward Appa.

Sokka stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Oh no! There is no way we're getting on that fluffy snot monster."

"Are we going to wait around hoping some other monster will come and offer a ride before we freeze to death?" She pulled away from him and allowed Aang to help her up into the saddle.

Xena smiled in amusement, pulling on a light blue parka she had retrieved from her pack. Like Katara's parka, hers had white fur on the inside. However, unlike Katara's parka, hers is much shorter and only fell to mid thigh. She dug through the pack again in search of her boots as Aang helped Sokka, who had given into logic, into the saddle. Her pack was huge in comparison to Aang's as she had packed it under the impression that they would be moving. Depending on how long Aang was determined to avoid the Air Temple, it had probably been a smart move.

"Alright, new time flyers," Aang started with a grin. "For safety purposes, please stay seated and keep your arms and legs in the saddle at all times. Yip yip!"

Appa jumped into the air as Aang flicked the reins, but instead of flying, the bison landed in the water with a splash. Aang tried uselessly to coax him into flying as Appa let out a groan and continued to swim.

"Real impressive," Sokka said sarcastically, before wincing as his sister elbowed him in the side.

Aang laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Aha, I knew I packed them!" Xena exclaimed as she pulled out a pair of boots. "It feels like it's been forever since I've last worn these."

"Do you not normally wear shoes where you're from?" Katara asked curiously.

"Actually I'm from the Northern Water Tribe," Xena answered as she slid the boots on. "I moved to the Southern Air Temple when I was thirteen and they keep the temple so clean that shoes aren't mandatory."

"If you're from the Northern Water Tribe does that mean you're a bender?" Katara asked in excitement.

Xena tensed and tugged harder than necessary on one of her boot straps.

" _Is that the best you can do, Xenia. Widen your stance and pull your hands closer to your body. We're not leaving until you get this move right."_

"I don't bend," She answered, keeping her tone neutral.

"It's probably a good thing you don't know how to bend, otherwise Katara would be pestering you to teach her."

"You're a waterbender?" Aang asked Katara with a grin.

"Yeah, but not a very good one."

Xena paused, once again feeling that something was not right. The Southern Water Tribe she knew was filled with waterbenders. Katara shouldn't even need to ask a stranger to teach her how to waterbend.

An awkward silence hung between them after that, only broken occasionally by Sokka giving directions to Aang. Xena settled against the back of the saddle with her arms crossed, staring out over the water, ice, and snow. In some locations, there were channels cut through sections of ice that were so thick that it must have taken years to freeze and therefore should never have melted. The only thing Xena knew that could possibly have broken ice that thick was . . .

"Icebreakers."

"Did you say something?"

"Just thinking out loud."

Silence fell again for a few minutes before Katara broke it again. "So I was wondering - with you being an airbender and all - if you knew what happened to the Avatar?"

"Oh, well, I never met him personally," Aang lied nervously. "But I knew people who had. Sorry."

"What about you, Xenia?"

"There's more than one Air Temple," She answered, choosing her words carefully. "And each is home to so many Air Nomads that it would be impossible to remember all their names and faces. The chance of someone meeting the Avatar and knowing about it is slim."

Xena's life was so filled with secrets that she refused to lie unless she had no other choice. She had discovered quickly that the easiest way to answer a question without lying was to say something that allowed other people to come to their own conclusions. Katara accepted the answer easily and Xena relaxed.

"What about his Guardian? She grew up in the Northern Water Tribe, didn't she?" Katara asked next.

"Come on, Katara. You know that the Avatar's Guardian is just a myth."

"A myth?" Xena asked in surprise.

Sure, people were shocked when they first found out about the Guardian, but no one had ever denied her existence before.

"It's so obvious. No one besides the Avatar has ever been able to bend more than one element. There's no such thing as a double bender, so it's impossible for the Avatar's Guardian to exist since she supposedly bends both water and-"

"Dualbender."

"What?"

"Dualbender," Xena repeated. "You're right that double benders don't exist. However, there is such a thing as a dualbender. It's been the correct term for a two element bender since the Guardian first started bending."

"So she is real?" Katara asked, expression eager for more information.

"As real as you or me," Xena confirmed.

"So then you've met her."

"Well," Xena drawled quietly, buying a second to think. "The Northern Water Tribe is bigger than an Air Temple. I used to live with my mother in the North West District - one of the poorer residential areas - and the Guardian's father owns a mansion quite close to the Ice Palace."

She glanced at Aang, unsurprised to see him staring at her with a strange contemplative expression. It was the first time he had heard about where she used to live. In fact, it was probably the first time he had heard anything about her early childhood and it didn't line up with what he had always heard about "The Pride of the Northern Water Tribe."

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"Xenia."

Xena was awake before Katara started shaking her. There was once a time when she was able to sleep in, but as the years passed, she quickly found herself waking up with the dawn. Unfortunately, losing the ability to sleep in did nothing to make her a morning person and she often spent her mornings meditating until she was actually ready to crawl out of bed.

"Everyone's waiting to meet Aang and you," Katara told her once she had sat up.

"Where is Aang?" Xena asked, grabbing her vest from the foot of the bed that had been loaned to her.

"He's still asleep in Sokka's tent. I wanted to wake you up before I went to get him," The girl answered before handing Xena a bowl of thin fish stew.

Xena couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she smelled the simple meal. "It's been awhile since I've had a fish stew. Or any stew with meat in it."

"The Air Nomads never made stew."

"Vegetable stew." Xena shrugged at Katara's surprised expression. "They're vegetarian."

"Oh, should I make something different for Aang then," She asked nervously. "I'm sure I can find some sea prunes."

"He'd probably be alright with ochazuke*." Katara shifted uncomfortably and Xena lowered the stew bowl. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Katara waved off her concern. "I'm going to go get Aang and see about finding some rice."

Xena stared after the girl as she left, finishing her stew in contemplative silence. The more she saw and heard, the more convinced she became that something was not right. She set aside the bowl when she was done and headed over to her pack. The item she was looking for was at the very bottom and she hesitated for a moment before pulling it out. The whalebone knife was yellow with age, but the blade was still razor sharp. The hilt had been recently rewrapped with a strip of blue leather which warmed up quickly in her grasp. She sheathed it and tucked it into the back of her belt before grabbing her parka. Sokka arrived a second later.

"Katara asked me to come get you."

She nodded and shot a brief glance at the bedroll attached to her pack before following the Water Tribe boy outside. Aang stood slightly behind Katara, looking uncomfortable with the attention of a small group of villagers. Xena was quick to note the absence of any men younger than fifty or older than nine. None of these villagers were ones she had seen before.

"Aang, Xenia, this is the entire village," Katara introduced. "Entire village, this is Aang and Xenia."

Aang bowed respectfully to them in the traditional Air Nomad fashion, closed fist pressed against the open palm of his other hand, and Xena sighed as the villagers back away slightly. She closed her right hand into a fist and wrapped her left hand over the top of the right before bowing. The villagers relaxed slightly in recognition of the Water Tribe style bow but still seemed unsure of the strangers.

"Why are they looking at me like that?" Aang asked nervously before glancing down at his clothes. "Did Appa sneeze on me?"

An old woman stepped out of the group to answer before either of the siblings or Xena could answer. "It's just that we haven't seen an airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct until my grandchildren found you."

"Extinct?" Aang repeated in confusion.

Xena spun the new information around in her head and begun making a terrible connection.

"Aang, Xenia, this is my grandmother." Katara's introduction briefly distracted Xena.

"Call me Gran Gran."

Sokka suddenly snatched the staff out of Aang's hand. "Is this a weapon? You can't stab anything with this."

Xena ignored the two boys as Aang took back his staff and revealed the glider wings. A hundred years since they had last seen an airbender. The only way that was true was if she and Aang had been frozen in that iceberg for a hundred years. If that was true then all their friends and family were . . .

"Are you alright, Xenia?" Katara asked worriedly. "You look like you're going to be sick?"

"Who are you at war with?" Xena demanded, turning to her.

"What?" Katara asked in surprise.

"There are no warriors in this village," Xena replied. "The only reason they would all be gone is if they were at war. Who are they fighting?"

"The Fire Nation."

"For how long?"

"The last hundred years. How long were you in that iceberg, Xenia?"

Before Xena could reply, Gran Gran called Katara away to work on chores. She turned to watch a smiling and laughing Aang be dragged away by a group of children. She feared the loss of that smile when he came to the same realization as her.

"Is it normal for airbenders not to be bothered by the cold?" Sokka asked, looking up from rebuilding his watch tower that Aang had damaged while showing off his gliding skills.

"Normal for Aang," She replied before turning to face the Water Tribe boy. "I want to know everything that's happened in the last one hundred years."

Sokka paused. "I can tell you some, but it might be best if you speak with Gran Gran."

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Genocide. The first time Xena had heard the word was when she was learning the early history of the Avatar. She never heard it used for any other moment in history until now. The genocide of the Air Nomads started the war that had lasted the one hundred years she and Aang were trapped in the iceberg. The genocide had occurred two months after they had run away. The monks had told the Avatar his identity four years early so that he would have time to learn the elements and prevent the war, but even if he had stayed, Aang wouldn't have had the time to learn enough to save his people. Following that genocide were the raids on the Southern Water Tribe to make sure that the next Avatar would not be born among them as an influential fortune teller had predicted. It was because of these raids that Katara was the only waterbender in the South.

Gran Gran and the other Water Tribe women thankfully left Xena to grieve in peace as they continued to work on making seaweed bread. Her face was buried in her hands, uncaring of the flour on her hands. Flour that had been donated from the few supplies that Aang had actually packed before running away. Since the genocide, the Southern Water Tribe were unable to trade with the Air Nomads and then after the raids from the Fire Nation they had lost the ability to trade at all. The tribe had tried to ration out their stored flour and make it last for as long as possible, but it had run out shortly after Katara and Sokka's parents were born. However, the recipe for seaweed bread and cookies lived on in the minds of the elderly women.

A gasp of shock from the women had Xena raising her head. An orange flare shot up into the sky and seemed to hover ominously in the air for a moment before beginning its descent to the ground. A surge of guilt and worry seeped through the bond Xena shared with Aang.

"Oh, Aang. What did you do this time?"

* * *

 ***Ochazuke- Rice in tea**

 **This chapter ended up being over two times longer than the original chapter to my immense relief. Fun fact, I love listening to music as I write, it doesn't matter if the music fits what I'm writing or not. I've been listening to the same two songs for the past two days while writing this chapter. "If Only" and "Rotten to the Core" from the Disney movie "Descendants." I've been seeing videos for this movie for the past couple of months and finally decided to buy it from Amazon and watch it. It's a bit cheesy and childish, but I enjoyed it and will probably watch it again, so I have no regret of buying instead of renting it. "Rotten to the Core" is the best song in the entire movie and you guys should definitely listen to it even if you don't want to watch the movie.**

 **Edit as of 11/2/17- Beta'd/Edited by friend IRL, Lily. Heavy grammar editing and fixing of present/past tense issues.**


	3. The Return

**Book One: The Avatar's Guardian/Winter**

 **Chapter Two: The Return**

* * *

When Xena first met Aang, she knew that she would protect him even if it wasn't her duty to. His kindness and innocence shone as bright as a light in the dark and she couldn't help wanting to make sure that light never went out. Keeping him safe wasn't an easy task when the boy attracted and caused so much trouble without even meaning to. One time Aang and his friend Kuzon stole a dragon egg from a band of poachers in order to return it to its parents. The adult dragon would have burnt them to a crisp if it weren't for Xena and her friends. After finally returning the egg, the poachers came after the two younger boys for revenge and one of Xena's friends, a firebender named Drake, ended up with a broken arm in the ensuing fight. Drake's father had not been happy and quickly used the influence of his noble blood to not only have the poachers fined double the usual amount, but managed to have them placed in jail for an entire year.

The repercussions for Aang's actions, this time, had the potential to be far worse than the dragon egg incident. The flare had barely fallen out of sight before Sokka found and started yelling at Xena. Gran Gran tried to calm the boy down, but by that point, Sokka had already made it perfectly clear that he wanted Xena and Aang to leave their village. Xena offered no argument as she dusted the flour off her hands and went to retrieve her pack. The Water Tribe boy followed her, ranting all the while.

"Are you even listening to me?!" He demanded after pausing to catch his breath.

"Not really," She answered, tossing her pack up into Appa's saddle.

The bison let out a soft rumbling sound without lifting his head. She gently scratched at the soft fur above his nose before climbing up to tie the reins to his horns. The cheering of children informed them of Aang and Katara's return a few minuted later. Sokka stormed towards them, the rest of the villagers gathering behind him. Xena finished tying the reins and jumped down from Appa's head.

"I knew it, you signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're going to lead them straight to us!"

Katara stepped between her brother and Aang. "Aang didn't mean to do anything. It was an accident."

"Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well, we . . . we boobied right into it," Aang replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"What ship?" Xena asked curiously.

"A Fire Navy icebreaker. It's been trapped in the ice for decades," Sokka answered.

"Katara, you knew you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger," Gran Gran told her.

Aang stepped forward as Katara looked down guiltily. "Don't blame, Katara. I brought her there . . . It's my fault."

"Ah-ha, the traitor confesses. Warriors, away from the enemy. The foreigners are banished from our village."

"You can't banish them," Katara protested.

Xena led Appa around the group of bystanders and to a clearer area where Appa could potentially take off from. She could point out so many idiotic things in their argument, but she also knew that Sokka had a point. It was in her best interest to stay out of it. There was absolutely no need for her to acknowledge the loud voice in the back of her head - that sounded strangely like her old friend Temari - chastising her for being afraid that Aang would get angry at her for protecting him again.

"I can and I am," Sokka replied and then pointed at Aang. "I promised Dad that I would protect you from threats like him."

"Aang's not a threat. Can't you see that he's brought us something we haven't had in awhile? Fun.

"Fun!" Sokka repeated. "You can't fight firebenders with fun."

 _Stay out of it, Xena. Just stay out of-_

"You can't fight without good troop morale and 'fun' does happen to be one way of keeping morale high."

 _Monkey feathers._

Sokka opened his mouth argumentatively and then closed it a second later unable to come up with a good retort. Instead, he pointed out towards the expanse of white leading from the village. "You're still banished!"

"Gran Gran, will you please help me talk some sense into him?" Katara begged, turning to her grandmother.

The elder glanced briefly at Xena and then Aang before replying to her granddaughter. "Katara, you know that going on that ship was off limits. I don't often get the chance to say that Sokka is right-"

"Hey!"

"-But in this case, he is. The airbender and his friend need to leave."

"Fine!" Katara shouted and grabbed Aang by the arm. "If they're banished then I'm banished too! Come on, Aang."

"Where do you think you're going?" Sokka demanded as Katara pulled Aang towards Xena and Appa.

"To find a waterbender. Aang and Xena are taking me to the North Pole."

"We are? Gre-"

"No! I am not going to the North Pole."

Everyone turned to stare at Xena in surprise that she had cut Aang off in firm denial. There was a haunted look in her brown eyes, and her already pale skin had somehow become even paler.

"Would you really choose them over your own tribe? Your own family?" Sokka said after a moment's pause.

Aang glanced at Xena and then the villagers before turning fully to Katara. "Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family."

"So this is goodbye?"

"Not a goodbye," Xena started, tension draining from her body in her relief.

"Only a see you later," Aang finished with her.

It was a saying that they and their mutual friends had adopted from one of their more eccentric friends. Using it now, Xena realized that it was the last thing she had said to the people she had cared for most and now a hundred years and some months later, it became clear to her that most of those friends she would never see again. How long did they search before they realized that "see you later" was instead a "goodbye forever?"

"Where will you go?" Katara asked, pulling Xena out of her dark thoughts.

"I guess we should go back home and look for the airbenders." A horrified look appeared on Aang's face. "I haven't cleaned my room in over a hundred years. Not looking forward to that."

He jumped onto Appa's head with help from some airbending and turned back to the villagers as Xena quickly climbed into the saddle. "It was nice meeting everyone."

"Let's see your _buffalo_ fly now, Airboy," Sokka taunted.

"C'mon, Appa. I know you can do it," Aang encouraged, not bothering to correct the Water Tribe boy. "Yip yip."

Appa growled tiredly and proceeded to walk away from the village with a slow lumbering gait.

"That's what I thought!" Sokka shouted after them, provoking a frown from Xena.

lxxxXXXxxxl

Aang slid off Appa's head as soon as the bison collapsed into the snow with a quiet grumble. He didn't turn as Xena jumped down behind him, but instead kicked at the snow silently.

"Aang-"

"I know I messed up," He cut her off. "I don't need the lecture."

"Shut up," She ordered and he turned to face her in surprise. "This time, _I_ get to speak and _you_ get to listen."

Xena didn't get angry often, but when she did it was always a quiet anger. The only time Aang had ever seen her raise her voice was when she argued with Temari. Her quiet anger always seemed scarier to Aang than when she yelled because it was impossible to tell just how angry she really was. Seeing Xena's restrained anger directed at him for the first time in what seemed like forever, Aang forced himself to bite his tongue and let her speak.

"I never asked for Avatar Roku to save my life and I _never_ asked to become your Guardian. That role was decided by the spirits and backed by the chief of the Northern Water Tribe. I was forced to give up my childhood in order to be trained and to become the Sword that would protect you. I have gone through things that you couldn't even imagine. Suffered pain, that you couldn't even imagine. Moving to the Earth Kingdom and later the Fire Nation are two of the best things that have ever happened to me. Meeting my friends was another.

"Kaori was my first real friend and one of the strongest links I had to the Water Tribes. Tanvi helped me rebuild my confidence when I lost it and Temari pushed me to be more than just a sword. Raiden showed me the stars and told me myths when I felt as fragile as glass. And Drake . . . Drake taught me how to be free. Everything I learned from them Aang, led me to realize that I didn't want to be your Guardian. I wanted to have my own life and a destiny of my own choosing. Before I ever met you, I had already decided that I wanted nothing to do with you. In fact, I decided that I was going to run away."

Aang's hands clenched at his sides as Xena seemed to confirm his worst fears. She had only been his friend because it was her duty.

"But then I met you, Aang and everything changed. You asked me earlier if I came with you because it was my duty, the answer is yes. However, it's not because I am your Guardian or the Sword or whatever titles I have been given in the hundred years we've been in that iceberg. I came with you because you're like a little brother to me, Aang."

Aang hands relaxed as he gaped at her in shock. Xena's expression had shifted from angry to endearing and the tension had drained from her.

"And it's the duty of an older sister to always protect their younger brothers. And believe me, when I say that you don't make it easy. Your curiosity is something I have always found endearing; however, it does often lead you into troublesome situations - usually, because you don't think things through or because you ignore other people's counsel. Did Katara tell you the icebreaker was off limits?"

"Yes," He replied guiltily.

"So you ignored her and decided to go aboard anyway?"

"Yes."

"Did you fire the flare by messing with the machinery?"

"No. I was in a hurry and I wasn't looking where I was walking and I ended up tripping over a trip wire.

"Why were you in a hurry?"

"Katara told me about this war and I wanted to tell you. Xena, do you really think all the Air Nomads are dead?"

"I don't know, Aang. I hope not, but I really don't know."

The young monk took a seat in the snow by Appa's head with a quiet sigh. Xena stared out over the ice and snow in silence, shoving her hands into the pockets of her parka. Each of her breaths created a cloud of condensation in the air. When she was younger, she used to enjoy being able to see her breath in the air. It had lost its novelty a long time ago, though.

"If I go on a short walk will I have to worry about you running off and getting into trouble." Aang shook his head. "Good. I shouldn't be too long. I just want to change my shirt and find some running water to get rid of this concealer."

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Xena had only been able to wash away the concealer covering her upper arms and change into a Water Tribe blue short-sleeved shirt before Aang had run off back to the Southern Water Tribe village. She had sensed his fear for the villagers and his determination to protect them automatically, but by the time she had gotten back to Appa, he was already gone. Cursing vibrantly, she dropped her parka onto the snowy ground. There's was only one way she was going to catch up to him and it was going to require her to do something she hated to do. Waterbending.

Sliding one foot back, she thrust her hands forward and created a trail of ice. Ice skating was a fine pastime for waterbenders and nonbenders alike in the Tribes, but it was also an excellent mode of transportation for waterbenders in a hurry. Xena was out of practice, but this particular move was one that she had practiced until it became muscle memory. She pushed off the ice hard, extending the icy path ahead of her as she went.

She understood Aang's desire to protect the Southern Water Tribe, but he was by no means a fighter which was why he should have waited for Xena, or at the very least came to get her. Like it or not, Xena was a trained fighter who knew the sword fighting styles of all four nations and - while loathing to - she knew how to bend.

Xena slid to a stop in the snow, staring out across the unfrozen bay towards the village. A Fire Navy icebreaker had plowed right through the thick land-fast ice and into the village's wall, collapsing it and Sokka's unsteady watchtower. It would be easier to stay on the frozen ice and snow to get back to the village, but going straight across the bay would be faster. She shuffled her feet in split second indecision before the worry she sensed from Aang pushed her to action. Straight across, it was.

lxxxXXXxxxl

"Man, I wish we could have gone ashore with the others. It's been ages since I've had any shore leave and I'm sick of this ship."

"Oh, give it a rest, Ryu. It's not they're down there visiting with the locals. We're here for the Avatar. You know, the master of all four elements. Do you really want to be fighting that powerful of a man? Personally, I'm quite happy to stay here, where it's nice and safe."

The two soldiers leaned on the spears as they talked. The slimmer of the two who was glad to have been left aboard the ship was the first to hear the crackling of rapidly freezing ice.

"What in tarnation?" He questioned and stepped towards the ship railing to stare out at the bay, Ryu following closely behind.

Their jaws dropped in astonishment at the sight of a girl rapidly skating across the bay, water freezing in a path only a few inches in front of her feet. The waterbender dropped into a crouch for balance as she skated, holding her hands out flat above the water. The water responded as she straightened, following her motions to create an icy ramp in front of her. Frozen in disbelief, the soldiers made no movement as she shot past them, water droplets flying from the speed at which she moved. The droplets froze in the low temperature and pinged off their armor and the sides of the ship as she slid up the ramp and launched herself into the air and over the wall.

"We don't get paid enough," Ryu complained and his companion could only nod his head weakly.

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Split second decisions in a life or death situation were one of the many things that Xena had learned and learned well in her training. It took her half a second after she had launched herself over the wall to analyze the situation. Ten Fire Nation soldiers stood behind what appeared to be their commanding officer, watching as he punched fireballs at Aang. The young pacifist monk stood between the firebender and the villagers, spinning his staff to disperse the fire with airbending. Katara was helping a rather beat up looking Sokka to his feet off to the side while watching Aang worriedly. The young monk could barely keep up with the firebender and flames were beginning to fly off the edges of his staff, making the villagers cower away in fear.

With a ferocious battle cry, Xena spun in midair and formed a ramp of ice that led her down and around the Fire Nation soldiers to put her between Aang and the firebender. As she slid between them, she raised a wall of ice with one hand to block the barrage of fire before melting the ramp with the other hand, changing it into several wickedly sharp ice spikes.

"Xenia?!" "Xena?!"

The Guardian ignored the simultaneous shouts from Aang and the Water Tribe siblings, attention solely focused on the firebenders and keeping the ice spikes levitating around her. The firebender standing across from her wore his hair up in a topknot and there was a vicious looking burn scar covering his left eye. However, neither of those was what she noticed first. She saw that he was just a teenager only a few years older than her.

"Only a coward picks on women and children who can't fight back. If you want a fight, then I'll be your opponent."

In that brief moment when everyone awaited his response to Xena's challenge, he glanced briefly at the villagers behind her and she could see regret in his amber eyes. But then his gaze shifted back to her and he shifted into a battle stance and created dual fire daggers in his hands. Xena matched his stance with one of her own, dropping control over the ice spikes before creating her own weapons with bending.

Gasps come not only from the villagers behind her but from the disciplined soldiers as well at the sight of her own fire daggers. They were shorter than their commander's daggers, but the flame was much more controlled than his. The scarred firebender's stance faltered in surprise.

" _You're_ the Avatar?! But I thought the airbender-"

"Oh, please," She cut him off with an eye roll. "Just because he's an airbender doesn't make him the Avatar. If you're assuming he is because he's the first airbender seen since the genocide, then I find great pleasure in telling you, that the Air Nomads are - as their name suggests - nomadic. There's probably a lot of them that escaped the attempted genocide and are scattered throughout the other three nations." To everyone's surprise, she relaxed and released her hold on both the daggers and the ice spikes. "If you want proof of someone being the Avatar, there's no better proof than seeing someone bend two elements."

Xena had never tried such a risky bluff before. Fighting was almost preferable to her, but she knew that this village was not a decent battleground and that the villagers could get caught in the crossfire if a fight broke out. She would never forgive herself if an innocent got hurt because of a fight she instigated. Aang was a sharp kid when he wanted to be and she felt the spike of fear and worry when he realized her plan.

"All you want is the Avatar, right? If I come with you, will you promise to leave this village and its occupants alone?"

"Xena, no!" Aang shouted, reaching forward to grab the back of her shirt.

"You'd give yourself up, just like that?"

"I would in order to protect those I care for."

The firebender released his daggers and straightened up. "Then I accept your terms."

"Xenia, you can't!" Katara shouted from behind her and Aang's grip on her shirt tightened even more as the soldiers stepped towards her with restraints and their spears held at the ready.

"I'll be fine, Katara," Xena assured. "Just make sure Aang stays out of trouble for me. Ok?"

She then pulled herself free from Aang and turned to face the young monk. He stared up at her teary eyed and concerned. "Listen to Katara and Sokka, alright? No more running onto boobytrapped ships."

He nodded and she lowered her voice so only he could hear what she said next. He nodded again sadly, but determination shined in his gray eyes and radiated through their bond as she stepped back and turned herself over to the Fire Nation soldiers. She didn't glance back as they tied her hands behind her back and marched her onto the ship.

" _This time, I'm counting on you to do the saving."_

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With all of her training, nothing could prepare Xena for the jovial, old, and overweight man who greeted the returning firebenders on the deck of the ship.

"I must admit, Prince Zuko, that in all the years we've been on this voyage, I never thought you'd find yourself a girl. And quite a beautiful girl she is."

Xena didn't know if she should be flattered or creeped out by that, so instead, she kept her face free of emotion

"She's the Avatar, Uncle," The scarred firebender, Zuko, replied irritably before shouting at one of his men to set sail for the Fire Nation.

"That doesn't make her any less of a girl," His uncle replied and for a moment, Xena could have sworn there was a knowing gleam in his eyes as noticed her tribal tattoos. "Those are quite some interesting tattoos you have, dear. What do they mean if you don't mind me asking?"

"They're wolf warrior tattoos," She answered, eyes narrowing in recognition of the sharp intelligence in this man's eyes.

His eyes briefly shift to glance at her brow as if searching for something hidden by her bangs. She can tell that he knew - or at least suspected the truth. Shifting her bound hands, she touched the knife hidden by her long blue tunic.

"I wasn't aware that there were still wolf warriors in the South. I thought they all fled to the North when the raids started."

"The pack may flee their territory, but there's always a lone wolf who is too stubborn to leave. They are not difficult to find if you know where to look," She replied to the old man cryptically.

"Enough talking! You two, take the Avatar to the prison hold." Zuko snapped.

"Right away, your Highness."

As the soldiers began to lead her away, Xena could hear the prince's uncle make a complaint.

"Come now, Zuko. You could have at least let me ask her for her name."

Xena smiled to herself for a second in relief that her ruse had worked. She made no move to resist as the two guards escorted her into the depths of the ship, each with a tight grip on her shoulder. Unbeknownst to them, she didn't plan on allowing them to take her to a cell.

"You know I can tell that you're not used to taking prisoners," She said nonchalantly, a small spark appearing as she quietly snapped her fingers. "For one, you haven't blindfolded me and it'll be quite easy for me to remember the path back to the deck." With minute motions of her fingers, she guides the spark down to the ropes. "Secondly, you didn't pat me down for weapons. I can see why you would make that mistake, though. I mean how many benders know how to use a weapon?"

"Silence," One of the guards ordered, his grip tightening on her shoulder in warning.

A sly smile appeared on the girl's face as she ignored his order. "Thirdly, you used a rope to tie a _firebender's_ hands."

Having burned halfway through the ropes, it was a simple matter for Xena to break them with a harsh jerk of her hands. Following that action, she twisted free of their grip and brought her elbow crashing into the side of one soldier's side where it was only protected by a thin piece of hide armor instead of hard steel while simultaneously hooking her ankle around the other soldier's ankle to pull him off balance. Taken by surprise, they staggered away from her and she was quick to jump back a few steps to give herself more distance while she drew her whalebone knife and held it in a reverse grip.

The one she had tripped recovered first and rushed towards her. She slashed at him with the knife and he leaned back to avoid the blade before punching a ball of fire at her, falling for her feint. She ducked beneath his extended arm and brought her knee crashing into his groin. He hunched over with a high pitched squeal of pain and she used the new position to her advantage to knee him in the nose. He dropped like a stone and she stepped over him to face the other soldier who had recovered by then.

She wasted no time in attacking, punching a ball of fire with her knife hand and closing the distance between them as he made the mistake of splitting her flames instead of sidestepping them. Her shoulders slammed into his ribs as she tackled him into the hall wall. For a girl, she was surprisingly strong and the last thing he saw before she slammed his armored head into the wall was a pair of unnatural silver eyes that he could have sworn were brown just a few minutes ago.

lxxxXXXxxxl

Xena let out an irritable sigh and tried to shrug off the pain from tackling a fully armored opponent. While effective, the move had not been one of her better ideas. To reduce further injury it would be best that she didn't get into any prolonged fights until she had made it to the top deck. Hopefully, Aang would have caught up with the ship by that time, so that she wouldn't have to engage in combat that required any use of her bending. She picked up her pace in an effort to distract herself and clear her head of the negative emotions surrounding the subject of her bending.

She rounded the corner of the hall in a sprint, A group of seven soldiers cut off their conversation in astonishment. Without slowing her momentum, she nimbly slipped around and between them. They quickly overcame their shock and made to grab her, but the narrow corridor and Xena's dexterity did not work in their favor. A small smile formed on the female warrior's face as she broke free from the packed group. The soldiers cursed and tried to reorient themselves in the narrow hall so they could give chase through the many twists and turns of the ship. Xena's smile was quick to fade as she turned another corner into a dead end.

"Damn it, I must have made a wrong turn somewhere."

Hearing her pursuers closing in on her, she ducked into an unlocked room and closed the door quietly behind her.

"Where did she go?"

"She must have turned onto a different hallway."

"We have to find her quick. The prince will have our heads if we let the Avatar escape."

Xena sighed and relaxed as their footsteps retreated, turning to investigate the room she ended up in. The good news was that should combat take place the room was more than spacious enough. The bad news was that it was the prince's bedroom and she had interrupted him in the process of changing clothes.

Face aflame, she purposefully kept her eyes from drifting below his waist as she stated as calmly as she could. "Well, this is a bit awkward."

The sound of her voice snapped the Fire Nation prince out of his shock. "How did you escape?!"

"Rope doesn't make for the best restraints when dealing with a firebender," She replied. "Uh, would you perhaps mind putting on some-" Her voice cracked as her gaze briefly flickered down and she let out an embarrassed cough. "Putting on some pants."

For a moment, it appeared the prince's anger over her escape would overpower his mortification at being caught in such a state of undress. To Xena's immense relief, he chose to cover up instead of attack. As he was distracted with pulling on some pants, she quickly slipped back into the hall and fled.

"Hey! Get back here!"

"This is not going to plan," Xena grumbled under her breath. "Please hurry, Aang."

After what seemed like a lifetime, but was in fact only a few minutes, Xena finally made it back to the deck with Zuko hot on her heels. Literally. Dodging to the left to avoid the prince's fireballs, she crashed into the back of a distracted soldier, sending him stumbling forward into a table where several men - including Zuko's uncle - were playing a card game.

An irritated noise escaped Xena's throat at her unusual clumsiness. She staggered away from the soldiers before sliding her left foot back and bringing her right hand up in front of her with the whalebone knife. A slight bend of the knees and she had regained a more solid stance to face the enraged - and still shirtless - prince. Outnumbered, with only a knife for a weapon, and unwilling to use her bending, Xena knew she was at a disadvantage. But disadvantage or not, she wouldn't be anybody's prisoner.

"I was under the impression that you had turned yourself over willingly," The prince's uncle said as he calmly sipped a cup of tea and ignored his ruined game.

"I did, but I never said I'd stay," Xena replied without looking away from Zuko.

The air shimmered around Zuko's hands and Xena was quick to react, dodging the fireballs he shot at her. Her Inner Fire surged at her silent urging and with it came the use of the only bending ability she never turned away from. The dark gray metal deck and the snowy cliffs on either side took on a bluish cast while Zuko and his men took on a more reddish hue. Without having to turn, an image of her surroundings in all direction began to form in Xena's mind to match the varying levels of heat she could sense with her firebending.

Heat sensing was an ability most firebenders learned early on, but the advanced version that she used was something that only a few handful of firebending masters had ever achieved. Those that did learn this ability, that some called heat vision, normally had to sit in a meditative state to even achieve it. To Xena, it was as easy as breathing and an unexpected gift given to her by the Avatar who had saved her life. With this gift, she was able to predict the attack from the soldiers behind her as their core temperature rose. And more importantly, from above she could sense . . .

"Xena!"

Aang's shout startled the attacking soldiers and Xena used the distraction to her advantage. She jabbed one in the throat with the back end of her knife, then feinted a slash at another before tripping him when he leaned back away from the sharp blade, and finally, in a display of acrobatics worthy of her Air Nomad teachers, she flipped over the head of a third. Aang jumped off of Appa's head with his glider as Xena ran towards the edge of the ship. He let go of the glider with one hand to grab the extended arm Xena held up to him, but before he could grab her, a fireball punctured one of the rice paper wings. Aang let out a startled shout as he lost control of the glider and plummeted into the freezing ocean.

"Aang!" Xena's cry was echoed by two others.

Anger, sharp and hot, raced through the female warrior as Aang failed to resurface. She spun on her heels to face the responsible firebender as an almost animalistic snarl tore from her throat. Her eyes, once a warm brown, were now silver and cold as she glared at Zuko. She took a single menacing step forward when the ship rocked violently as the ocean exploded upward.

Aang rose high above the ship for a moment atop a spinning mass of water, both his eyes and arrow tattoos glowing. He landed on the ship and swung his staff with both hands, sending a large wave of water crashing across the deck in a breathtaking display of waterbending. The water split around Xena's furious form before it crashed into the soldiers and sent them colliding with the ship's railing. In a show of karmic justice, Zuko was the only one to be knocked over the railing.

The young Avatar staggered as the power of the Avatar State left him as quickly as it came. Concern overriding her anger, Xena quickly rushed to his side and caught him as his legs gave out.

"Are you alright?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He asked with a weak smile. "I'm fine, Xena."

Appa landed on the ship's deck beside them and the two Water Tribe siblings on his back rushed to Aang and Xena's side.

"Are you two ok-"

"How did you do that?" Sokka blurted out in awe, cutting off his sister to her annoyance.

"He's the Avatar," Xena said by way of explanation, helping Aang back to his feet.

"But I thought you were the Avatar."

"I don't recall ever saying I was the Avatar."

"But you used both waterbending and firebending."

"Well, you see, Sokka, I'm that myth that protects the Avatar." He backed down at her obvious irritation and Xena passed Aang's care off to Katara. "Get him on Appa."

"Where are you going?" The younger girl asked in surprise as Xena walked away from them.

Instead of responding, Xena grabbed a spear that one of the soldiers had dropped. Breaking the tip off with a quick stomp of her booted foot, she spun the makeshift staff and beckoned to the recovered soldiers.

"Who's first?"

The combat is fast and brutal, and by the end of it, Xena stood mostly untouched with a relaxed grip on two halves of the broken and scorched spear. Stepping over the bodies of concussed and unconscious soldiers, she made her way to the side of the ship where the prince had finally managed to pull himself back aboard. She pressed the sharp splintered end of one of the spear halves against his throat. For a moment, silver and amber eyes locked together in dual threats and promises of harm. To the outside observer, it might look like she was about to kill him or seriously maim him. However, that was not Xena's style; with a derisive - and very unladylike - snort, she knocked him out with a swift blow to the temple.

She dropped the broken spear to the deck and turned her back to him almost nonchalantly, offering a brief nod to the prince's uncle who was still calmly sitting and drinking tea.

"I never did get your name," He suddenly said.

"Nor I yours." She paused and glanced over her shoulder with an almost pleasant smile. "The name's Xenia Sky Dragon."

Recognition shone in the man's wise amber eyes as he tilted his head to her. "Iroh, Dragon of the West."

And with that strange but brief exchange, Xena quickly joined Aang and the Water Tribe siblings on Appa's back. All was quiet for several seconds as Aang directed Appa into the air and away from the ship.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're kind of scary?" Sokka asked.

"I've been informed that I can be a bit intimidating at times."

"Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar and his Guardian?" Katara finally asked after a few more minutes of flight.

"Because I never wanted to be the Avatar," Aang replied, resting his chin on his knees.

Xena shrugged when Katara glanced at her. "I was following his lead."

"The world has been waiting for nearly a century for the Avatar to return and put an end to the war."

Aang shook his head. "I'm just one kid and I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Legend says you have to learn waterbending, then earth, and then fire," Katara replied, a hopeful gleam in her blue eyes.

Aang straightened and glanced at Xena. "That's what the monks told me."

Katara turned towards Xena, her optimism growing. "Xenia, you could teach him water-"

"Not happening," Xena cut her off.

"Why not?"

"I don't bend."

"But we saw you-"

"I don't bend unless I absolutely have to and that's not up for discussion."

The Water Tribe siblings exchanged surprised glances at her adamant refusal. Aang hesitated for a moment before offering the solution that Xena had shot down earlier that day.

"We could go to the North Pole."

Xena's jaw clenched and she nodded after a brief hesitation. "I don't like it, but we don't have much of a choice."

"Katara, you could learn with me?" Aang said with a bright smile.

Katara returned the smile. "And Sokka, you can knock some Fire Nation heads in along the way."

"I'd like that. I'd really like that," Sokka replied eagerly, stroking an imaginary beard as he thought.

"Then we're in this together!'

"Yay, go, team," Xena replied dryly before smiling. "Bet I'll beat more soldiers than you, Sokka."

"We'll see about that, Xenia," Sokka said challengingly.

* * *

 **blackcat711:** I'm glad you find Xena more relatable. Character development is something I plan to do a lot of in this story. Making Xena a badass without being too overpowered will be a challenge, but it's a challenge I'm ready for.

 **Momochan77:** I am very hopeful as well.

 **Brittany the Vampire:** I'm glad you find this unique because that's exactly what I'm going for. Personally, I think rewriting one of your beginning fanfictions is always a good idea as you not only get to realize how much your writing skill has improved, but you can also make a good idea even better. I've read your Avatar fanfiction and can easily see the potential in it. If you do decide to do a rewrite let me know and I'll gladly give it a read.

 **lizy2000:** Aang is still the airbending Avatar. Did I confuse you with the mention of a prophecy? Because I was actually referring to the Legend of Korra and the fact that Korra was born in the Southern Water Tribe.

 **I changed the names of Xena's friends to fit better with the actual show. Kaori=Korra, Tamsin=Tanvi, Temari=Tami, Raiden=Rivon. Drake's name is the only one that has not changed.**

 **I also forget to explain Xena's name. As you've probably noticed by now I changed her name to Xenia (Ze-nee-ah) but kept Xena as a nickname. I'm aware that this is a Greek name, but at the time I named her, my fourteen-year-old mind decided I needed a badass name that started with a 'z' sound. I recalled that Xena from** _ **Xena: Warrior Princess**_ **was supposedly a badass fighter and decided it would work perfectly. Ironically, I had not and have not to this day ever watched** _ **Xena: Warrior Princess**_ **.**

 **Edit of 11/2/17- Beta'd and Edited by friend IRL, Lily.**


	4. The Last Airbender

**Book One: The Avatar's Guardian (Water)**

 **Chapter Three: The Last Airbender**

 **Warning: Contains mentions of death. Read at your own risk.**

* * *

The Southern Air Temple had been Aang's home for all twelve years of his life, and Xena's home for the past two and a half years. It was a place of happy memories for both up until the last few months before they had left. While Aang and Xena had begun to repair their relationship they both knew that the temple they were returning to was not the same temple they had left. The dealt with the knowledge in their own separate ways, Aang putting on a smile of optimistic naivety as he excitedly told the siblings about the temple while Xena busied herself repairing his staff.

Glider care and repair was one of the things that all airbending novices learned at a young age. Xena had learned as well from watching Aang, whose adventures often led to his glider being damaged. Replacing the waxy rice paper didn't take very long and Xena had just begun to reattach the wing back to his staff when Aang drew their attention to the Patoula Mountains.

"Those are some big mountains," Sokka said in awe as he gaped at the mist covered mountain range.

"It would take a month and a half to get to the air temple by foot," Xena informed him as she carefully tightened a screw. "Of course even if you were to walk through the mountain range, you would still need a flying bison or a glider to reach the temple itself."

"Which means that the airbenders were probably able to escape," Aang said with a hopeful smile. "Just because no one's seen them doesn't mean they don't exist."

"I don't know, Aang. I don't think you shouldn't get your hopes too high," Katara cautioned, watching the young monk in concern.

Instead of answering, Aang pulls Appa into a near vertical ascent. The Water Tribe siblings yelp in surprise and follow Xena's lead in grabbing onto the edge of the saddle. The blue tiles of the temple come into view below them as the rise over the mountain range.

"There it is!" Aang grins as Appa levels out. "The Southern Air Temple."

"Aang, it's amazing!" Katara cries out in awe.

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If by amazing, Katara meant overran by plant life and in a state of disrepair, then Xena would have to concur with that statement. As Aang gave the siblings a tour of the temple with an optimistic smile, Xena was already beginning to accept the unfortunate truth. The Air Nomads really were gone. Aang's pain hit her like a punch in the gut as he too began to come to that same realization.

"What's wrong, Aang?" Katara asked in concern as the young monk stopped in the middle of the tour.

"It's just that this place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison and now," Aang paused to kick at a clump of grass growing up between the cracks in the stone walkway. "Now it's just full of weeds. I can't believe how much has changed."

Xena placed a hand on his shoulder as he sighed. She stared at the crumbling ruins of their old home. Frustration and anger towards the Fire Nation overtook her for a moment as she felt Aang's sadness. She calmed some as Sokka spoke up in an effort to distract and cheer up the boy.

"So how was this airball game you mentioned played."

Aang smiled. "Oh, it's really easy. See you just have to…"

As Aang began to explain the rules of the game, Xena slipped away to further explore the abandoned temple. Her exploration brought her to one courtyard in particular that was overlooked by a familiar face.

"I would promise vengeance against the Fire Nation, but I know that would go against your beliefs," She told the statue of Gyatso before bowing. "Instead I promise to not seek the title of Avenger but to instead reaffirm my title as the Avatar's Guardian. I will protect Aang and keep the Fire Nation from ending his life as they did yours and the other Airbenders."

Straightening up, she headed deeper into the temple. She's near the novices' living quarters when she notices it. Scorch marks. Brushing her fingers against one of the marks, she finds her steps slowing and faltering, afraid of what she would find if she continued. The doorknob of one of the doors felt cool in her palm. The click of the door opening rang almost ominously in the silent hall. Her breath caught in her throat as the door slowly swung open. She staggered backward, running into the hall wall as she raised a hand to her mouth in horror.

"No, no,no," She repeated in denial.

Horrified, she staggered to another room and swung open the door then another until she had opened every room in the hallway. No matter how many rooms she opened it didn't change the truth.

"They were just kids!" She cried. "They were just kids. Just kids."

The words she muttered were drowned out by her harsh breathing and the sobs as tears began to run down her face. The images of what she had just seen forever burned into her brain. Charred wood and blackened bone, ash and dust. They were just kids and they were killed without any mercy. Her mind rebelled against it all because this couldn't be real. It couldn't be and yet the proof was right in front of her.

She didn't know how long she stood there before she found herself running, trying to escape the images spinning through her head. Every burn mark and broken statue or mural stood out to her as she ran, not even giving her the option to deny everything she had just seen. It got even worse when she reached the meadow where the air bison usually hung out.

Skeletons wearing black and red armor lay alongside and were outnumbered those wearing tattered orange robes with a few larger animal skeletons scattered throughout the clearing. She staggered and fell to her knees.

Every optimistic thing she or Aang had said in regards to what happened to the airbenders ran through her mind. How could they ever have thought that any airbenders had survived? This really was a genocide. A rush of anger and devastation washed over her from her bond to Aang.

"Aang," She murmured quietly and forced herself to stand.

She staggered a few steps, before picking up her space. Locating Aang in the temple is easy with their bond, and she pushes aside the tattered curtain to the crumbling hut gently. Sokka was the closest to her, crouched behind a barrel as he reached for Katara. The other girl was trying to force herself through the swirling air around Aang, who was trapped in the Avatar State. Xena clenches her jaw at the sight of the skeleton leaning against the wall. The necklace he wears recognizable as the one Aang had made for him. Forcing her gaze away, she begins to move towards Aang. The wind parts around her, allowing her to approach with ease. The young Avatar turns to look at her as she rests a gentle hand on his arm.

"Aang," She says softly.

At the sight of her own tears, he slowly relaxes and lets the power go, slumping into her. She wrapped him in a hug, sharing their grief as Katara and Sokka watch on.

"I really am the last airbender," He sobs into her shoulder, clinging tightly to her vest.

lxxxXXXxxxl

After Aang had finished crying, Xena had insisted they leave the temple and so they did with the added addition of a flying lemur that had taken a liking to Aang. Katara and Sokka offered what support they could to the two, but Aang's false smiles and cheer made it difficult for them to offer him comfort while Xena just turned them away and found other ways to distract herself. It wasn't until night had fallen and the siblings went to sleep that they let all pretenses go.

"Aang?"

"Oh, Xena. I was just…" Aang trailed off and looked down at the hunk of wood he was carving into with a small knife.

"It's alright, I know what you're doing. May I sit?"

Aang nodded and the older girl settled beside him on the edge of the cliff where they had made their campsite. They stared up at the star filled sky in silence for several minutes, broken occasionally by the rasp of the knife against wood.

"If I could," Xena started, leaning forward to brace herself on her knees. "I would carry your grief for you."

"Gyatso used to say that trying to carry someone else's pain is like trying to bear the entire weight of the sky by yourself."

"Unfortunately my name is not Atlas," Xena replied. "So as much as I would like to make it so that you can never feel this pain. I can't."

"I forgot about that."

"About what?"

"Your love for ancient mythology. You and Gyatso used to sit for hours just talking about it."

They lapsed into silence again for several minutes before Aang spoke again.

"He's was as much a father to you as he was to me, wasn't he? This entire time I keep on wondering why I had to lose everything I cared about without even thinking about you. You've lost as much as I have if not more."

"But the difference is, I'm used to loss. You aren't."

"You know that doesn't make me feel better, right?"

"Yeah, sorry. I'm just. . . trying to deal with this the best way I can."

"What are we going to do now?"

"Now," Xena started as she stood. "We're going to go to the Northern Water Tribe so you can learn waterbending and then we're going to find you an earthbending teacher and then a firebending teacher so that we can defeat the Fire Nation and make sure what happened to the Air Nomads doesn't happen to the other two nations."

"But before that. . . Before that, we are going to lay the dead to rest. That is if you are open to making a trip back to the temple tonight."

Aang glanced towards the sleeping Water Tribe siblings. "What about them?"

"We'll be back before they wake up, but we can leave a note just in case we don't."

"Okay."

They made it back to the campsite just as the siblings were waking, both covered in mud and soot. Sokka wanted to know where they had been, but Katara had shushed him in understanding. After cleaning themselves up and having breakfast, Xena stood at the edge of the cliff, staring in the direction of the temple at the plume of smoke from the pier for the Fire Nation soldiers that she had lit at Aang's behest. The young monk was always the forgiving one even to those who didn't deserve it. Just one of the many reasons, she hadn't run away from her duty as his Guardian.

"Xenia?"

She turned as Katara called her name. "Sorry, we can go now."

She walked towards Appa and as she passed by the other Water Tribe girl she faltered to add something.

"Oh, and Katara. Just Xena is fine."

 **My apologies for the lateness and for the shortness of this chapter. I tried to make this chapter longer than the original which it is, but not by much. I wanted to focus more on the darkness of what happened to the Air Nomads and found it difficult to write this chapter because of it. I like the changes I made to this chapter, but I took no pleasure in writing this if that makes any sense.**

 **Anyways, you all see that little picture in the top left by the summary. That's the first picture I drew on my new drawing tablet. The full version can be found on my deviantart 3wolfheart4 and I hope to do some more artwork for this story in the future. I have also started a series of side stories titled "What If." The first chapter in this story ties into this chapter. If you have any questions about what if something else had happened in my story then feel free to ask and I will try**

 **Sorry for the long A/N. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.**

 **Playlist: "We Are The Brave" by Veridia, "Untraveled Road" by Thousand Foot Krutch, "Novocaine" by Fall Out Boys, "Glitter and Gold" by Barns Courtney, "Here Comes a Thought" from Steven Universe, "The White Stripes" by Seven Nation Army (Fun fact about my playlist, most of the songs are from RWBY AMVs that I found).**


	5. Women and Warriors

**Book One: The Avatar's Guardian (Water)**

 **Chapter Four: Women and Warriors**

 **Warning: Story earns it rating with implied sexual content between two consenting females.**

* * *

Xena felt like Aang was dealing with the revelation of him being the last airbender better than she was. Perhaps it was because of his age, but she was more inclined to think it was just part of his personality. She watched the young monk from the corner of her eye, brow furrowed in thought. Aang had a small goofy grin as he replied to a question Sokka had asked him.

"We're lost aren't we?"

"Kinda. I know it's near water."

"Oh, then I guess we must be close then," Sokka replied sarcastically, gesturing to the ocean below them.

"In his defense," Xena started, rhythmically shaving down a chunk of wood with quick flicks of her knife. "There's not any landmarks around for him to navigate by."

Sokka rolled up the map with a derisive snort only flinch at the particularly loud rasp of her knife. Aang climbed back onto Appa's head as the Water Tribe boy moved back to sit by his sister, who was stitching a gaping hole in his pants. They flew in relative silence for a few minutes, Xena still keeping an eye on Aang as she worked on her carving. Her movements slowed some as she became aware of the subtle glances Aang kept throwing over his shoulder towards Katara. Suddenly he whispered something to his new pet lemur, Momo, and the lemur quickly dived into his shirt before popping back out and placing something in the palm of the boy's hand.

"Hey, Katara. Check out this airbending trick."

A set of three marbles spins rapidly between the boy's palms with a thin current of air, controlled by minute motions of his fingertips. As airbending tricks go, it's a very simple one that most airbenders learn in order to increase their bending control. Of course, Katara didn't know that, so maybe there was a chance she would find it impressive. At least, if she was actually watching she might.

"That's great, Aang," The other girl muttered without looking up.

Aang's innocent smile falls and he stops the trick. "You didn't even look."

"That's great!" Katara says with more enthusiasm as she finally looks at him.

Xena snorts in amusement and quickly covers it with a cough.

"But I'm not doing it now," He mutters, shoulders sagging.

"Stop bugging her, Airhead," Sokka told the boy. "You need to give girls space when they do their sewing?"

Xena pauses her carving, slowly lifting her head to stare at the boy with narrowed eyes.

"What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?" Katara asked with gritted teeth.

Aang makes an 'abort' motion to Sokka as the boy replies obliviously, "Simple. Girls are better at fixing pants than guys and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things."

He had barely finished his sentence when Xena surged forward. Sokka let out a startled yelp at the gentle pressure of her knife at his throat. Her free hand was clutched tightly around the saddle rim as she trapped him against the side. He gulped nervously, shrinking beneath her furious expression.

"Would you like to rethink that statement?" She asked, tone dark.

"Xena?" Aang questioned worriedly.

"I wasn't talking about you. I mean you're different. You're not-"

"Think very carefully about what you're about to say." Xena's eyes flashed dangerously, the silver flecks in her eyes glowing slightly.

"Girly," He finished weakly."

 _You can't kill him, Xena. No matter how much of a chauvinistic bastard he is being._ She pulled back to her side of the saddle without a word and returned to her whittling with almost vicious swipes of her knife that made Sokka flinch.

Aang and Katara glanced between the two before the young airbender cleared his throat and faced forward.

"We're … um, we're here," He said quietly and guided Appa down onto an island beach.

Xena was the first off his back, stomping towards the tree line where she took a seat and continued her carving. Aang glanced after her worriedly as he floated lightly to the ground.

""We just made a pit stop yesterday. Don't you think we should get a bit more flying in before we camp out again?" Sokka asked with a nervous glance at Xena, pulling on his newly repaired pants.

"Sokka's right. By this rate, we won't make to the North Pole by spring," Katara agreed

"But Appa's tired already. Aren't you boy?" Aang says then nudges Appa when the bison doesn't respond. "I said, aren't you boy?"

Appa lets out an almost believable growl.

"Yeah, that was real convincing. But still it's hard to argue against the ten-ton magical monster," Sokka says.

"Look!" Aang exclaimed, eagerly pointing at a giant koi fish as it jumped out of the water. "That's why we're here. Elephant koi, and I'm going to ride it. Katara, you got to watch me."

"Try not to drown," Xena remarked. "I'd rather not have to jump in to save you."

"You worry too much," Aang replied, pulling his shirt over his head before taking off his pants and rushing into the water in only his underpants. "COLD!"

The airbender surfs around on the back of an elephant koi for a while, holding onto the spines on its back.

"He looks pretty good out there."

"Are you kidding? The fish is doing all the work," Sokka told his sister with an eye roll only to flinch again as Xena spoke.

"Have you ever tried to hold onto a fish with just your bare hands?"

"Seriously, what's your problem? Why are you so . . . so prickly all of a sudden?" Sokka demanded to know and Xena answered by shooting him a glare.

"No! Don't eat that, Appa!" Katara broke the suddenly tense atmosphere with her shout as she ran over to the air bison. Xena pushed herself up to help her with a sigh. Appa did occasionally try to eat things he shouldn't and trying to stop a ten-ton magical monster, as Sokka called him, was a lot harder than it looked. When the two girls joined Sokka on the beach they saw the older boy, shifting nervously for a reason other than Xena's intimidation.

"What's wrong, Sokka?" Katara asked curiously.

"Aang's in trouble. There's something in the water," Sokka answered, pointing to where one of the koi fish disappeared as is pulled under the water.

"Aang!" Xena shouted, catching the boy's attention.

"Get out of there!"

"Come back here, Aang."

The boy stares at them in confusion and waves back at them, too far away for them to hear him. Aang is sent flying through the air suddenly as the elephant koi is dragged down as well. Cursing viciously, Xena lunged into the water, launching herself forward with waterbending. A large fin arches out of the water behind the young monk as he shakes his head in dazed confusion. Xena slams into him, shoving him behind her towards shore while sweeping her arm to slice into the fin with a blade of water. The water bubbles and froths around them and uttering another curse, she grabs Aang and launches them back to shore with yet more waterbending. The power put behind her bending sends them crashing into Sokka and then a snow covered tree, which dumps its load of cold powder onto them.

"What was that?" Katara asked shakily as Aang quickly stood and yanked his clothes back on me.

"I don't know," Aang replied weakly.

"Get off, Xenia. You're getting me all wet," Sokka complained pushing at the female warrior's shoulder.

"Xena, you're soaked," Katara hurried to help her fellow waterbender up and made to waterbend the water from her clothes only for Xena to catch her wrist in an almost crushing grip.

"Don't."

"Um, thanks for saving me, Xena."

"Let's just go," She told in Aang and strode off towards Appa.

The three other teens exchange glances behind her back, Katara rubbing at her sore wrist. Distracted as they are, they're taken by surprise by the green blurs dropping down from the trees. Xena spins at their cries of shock, quickly scrambling backward to avoid a fist to the face. She slips into a defensive stance, unsheathing her whalebone knife. The girl that attacked her is dressed in a green dress with black leather armor with her face covered in a mask of face paint. A glance behind the girl reveals that her friends had already been subdued and bound. Her eyes flash dangerously as the girl's fellow warriors quickly surround her.

"Come on then," She challenged. "I've been needing a good fight."

So focused is she on the girls surrounding her, that she is taken off guard by the one that dropped down from the tree above her. Her knife is sent flying from her hand, before both her hands are drawn behind her back and tied.

"Sorry, love, but you won't be getting that fight today."

Xena recovers from her surprise quickly and rolls over, trapping the new girl beneath her while kicking another in the gut when she came too close. Even with her hands tied behind her back, Xena is a formidable opponent and as the green-clad warriors try to subdue her, she kicks and squirms. She even bites into one of the girls' arm, the warrior crying out in pain.

"Enough!"

An arm wraps tightly around Xena's throat, hauling her off the girl while cutting off her air supply.

"I suggest you stop fighting us, girl. Unless you want to see something bad happen to one of your friends. Surrender and we'll see about getting this sorted out peacefully," The female warrior who had dropped onto her back early ordered.

She forces herself to relax and doesn't struggle as the other warrior loosens her grip carefully.

"Good girl. Glad to see you have some intelligence to go with all of that strength and fury."

Xena clenched her jaw and didn't respond as a blindfold was tied over her eyes. She kept her head held high as she was hauled onto her feet.

"Grab the others. We're going back to the village."

"Rio, are you sure you got that one under control. I've never seen a female foreigner as strong as her before."

"It'll be fine. She's a smart one, she won't fight me. Will you, love?"

She gritted her teeth and spat out a venomous 'no'.

"Satisfied?" Rio asked the other girl and didn't wait for a response before pushing Xena into a walk.

lxxxXXXxxxl

"You three have some explaining to do."

"And if you don't answer all of our questions, we're throwing you back into the water with the Unagi."

Xena shifts against the pillar she and the others are tied to. Nails biting into the wood as her hands are still tied behind her back. Her stance is filled with tension, ready for a fight at any given moment. Without her weapons, she resigns herself to the fact that should a battle occur, she will have to use her bending whether she wants to or not.

"Show yourselves, cowards!" Sokka shouts angrily to her right.

At his challenge, their blindfolds are yanked off roughly. The green-clad warrior in front of Xena smiles at her glare. She stepped back to stand beside another warrior with auburn hair.

"Who are you and where are the men who ambushed us?"

Tied as she is, it's not an easy feat for Xena to stomp on Sokka's foot, but she manages to anyways.

"Ow! Whose side are you on, Xenia?!"

Xena didn't respond and ignored the almost amused glances the other female warriors sent her.

"There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us who you are and what you're doing here?" The auburn haired warrior demanded.

"Wait a minute. There's no way-" Xena cut Sokka off by grinding her heel into his feet, causing him to whine a complaint.

"Shut up you idiot," She hissed. "Do you want to get us killed?"

"It's my fault we're here," Aang speaks up from Sokka's other side. "I'm sorry we came here. I just wanted to ride the elephant koi."

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies. Kyoshi has stayed out of the war so far and we intend to keep it that way."

"Wait, this island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!" Aang nearly shouts at the new information.

"How could you know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago," An elderly man, clearly the leader of this village says. "She's been dead for centuries."

"I know her because I'm the Avatar," Aang answers.

Xena's eyes narrow at the disbelief on the faces of all those gathered.

"That's impossible! The last Avatar was an airbender that disappeared over a hundred years ago.

"That's me," Aang says proudly and Xena can almost imagine the goofy grin on his face.

"Throw the imposters to the Unagi!"

Xena's eyes flash silver as the Kyoshi Warriors draw golden fans from their belts and approach. Her hands heat up in preparation to burn through the ropes binding her hands. The Kyoshi Warrior who had removed her blindfold straightens up.

"Wait, Suki."

"What Rio?" The auburn haired warrior demanded in frustration.

Rio closed her fans and approached Xena, blocking the Guardian's kick with her forearm.

"Silver eyes and. . ." She brushed aside Xena's bangs with one of her closed fans. "And a silver crescent moon. "You're the Avatar's Guardian."

"Come on, Rio. Seriously, the Guardian is just a myth," One of the other girls says with an exasperated sigh.

Xena's brow furrowed in confusion. "How is it that everyone has managed to convince themselves that I'm just a myth?"

"It's probably because of all your titles," Aang answered back. "Hmm, I wonder how many you have now. There's the one as my guardian, Pride of the North, the Sword, the Honorary Beifong, and Sky Dragon. That's five."

"You forgot that the twins gave me the title Royal Pain-in-the-ass," Xena reminded him. "And I guess you can add Myth to the list as well."

"So that's at least seven that we know of."

"Seriously, guys?" Katara demanded in irritation. "We're facing imminent death and you guys think that now's the time to be having this discussion."

"Oh wait, Xena I just remembered another one of your titles," Aang declared, ignoring Katara. "The World's First Master Dualbender of Water and Fire."

"Enough!" The lead Kyoshi Warrior snaps and begins approaching.

As her warriors follow suit, Aang and Xena move in tandem. The airbender airbends himself upwards, snapping the ropes tying the teens to the pillar while Xena burns through the rope binding her hands to sock Rio in her black leather chest plate with a burst of fire for impact. Turning at the waist in a fluid waterbending move, she pulls water from a nearby fountain to douse the warrior.

The gathered crowd gasps in shock and awe, looking between the fierce female warrior with silver eyes and the young kindly bald monk as if unsure who demands the most respect. Xena settles their conflict by moving to stand behind her young charge.

"It's true. . . You are the Avatar," the elder's whisper heard in the shocked silence of the crowd. "And you're his Guardian."

"That's right, I am the Avatar," Aang says proudly then suddenly whips out his marbles. "Now check this out."

Xena can't help smiling at his antics as the villagers begin to cheer. Brushing the tips of her fingers against his back in an act of support, she turns to walk back towards Rio who had slowly stood up.

"That was absolutely amazing," Rio declared with a wide grin. "I'm not even mad that you burned my best uniform."

"My knife," Xena demanded more than requested.

"Oh, uh, right. Here."

Xena turned her back on the warrior after snatching her knife back before joining Sokka and Katara in watching Aang.

lxxxXXXxxxl

The elderly man who had questioned them alongside the Kyoshi Warriors insisted upon opening his home to them for the night in compensation for the harsh treatment. Xena had departed earlier from a feast Kyoshi had thrown in their honor to the guest bedroom she was to share with Katara. The other waterbender had snuck in a few hours later, trying not to wake her and unaware that Xena had not been sleeping. It wasn't until Katara had drifted into the realm of dreams that Xena finally succumbed to sleep.

She was awake and on her feet before the dawn light had even begun to seep through the blinds. Careful not to wake Katara, Xena had removed a long cloth wrapped object from her bedroll and a mess of brown leather from her pack. The wooden floors of their host's house were cool beneath her bare feet and all was quiet save the rare squeak of a floorboard. Once outside, she took a deep breath of the crisp morning air before settling into a kneeling position with the cloth wrapped package on her lap and the leather set aside. She sat in meditation until the rising sun began to warm her face and her inner fire fluctuates in time with her breathing. It's not until the heat of her inner fire burns away the stiffness and lethargy from her limbs that she opens her eyes and begins to unwrap the package.

She gingerly wraps her hand around the blue leather hilt of one of the dual swords once they are fully revealed. With a rasp of steel. The Guardian draws the blue-tinted blade. The name of the sword - while a simple one - had been painstakingly engraved into both sides of the blade with a decoration of snowflakes. The snowflake pattern and name had also been stitched into the black scabbard that she had set aside with silver thread. The second sword's scabbard similarly had its name and a pattern of fire stitched with gold thread. This sword's hilt was a dark red and the blade once drawn was revealed to carry a red tint.

Xena lay the two blades in her lap alongside one another with their hilts pointing in opposite directions.

" _Master, I understand the importance of helping you make the swords I will use for the rest of my life. But I don't understand why they have to be so . . . so fancy."_

" _Because just like how our tattoos have meaning, so too does the appearance of our weapons. We are wolf warriors, Xenia. We are as much a part of our weapons as they are of us. Their appearance tells of who we are as people and warriors."_

" _Then my swords should be plain."_

" _Ah, but you are anything but plain, my dear student. You are brave and kind, fierce and compassionate. You are of water and fire and your swords should match that. Now, have you thought about what oath you will make after your final test is down."_

"I am the Soul of my Swords. Smoke is my body, and Frost is my blood. I have born many trials. Familiar to pain. Filled with courage. I will fight to protect those I love with soul, body, and blood. This, my oath as a wolf warrior."

The words fall off Xena's tongue with ease, forever engraved into her memory. Every oath made by a wolf warrior is unique, no two the same. She had been so young when she made her oath, that no one had expected her to have come up with such a powerful declaration especially after the incident the day of her final test. She had thought long and hard about what she wanted her oath to be and she had held tightly to those words throughout her recovery after the incident. They were the one thing that kept her from completely breaking and the only thing to make sure that her confidence wasn't shattered irreparably.

Saying the words now, filled her heart with determination. She had only wielded her swords, Smoke and Frost, a handful of times in a real fight. She knew that those fights - while real - were just the fights of a child and now. . . Well, now it's time for her swords to be used in the fight of an adult.

With a look of reverence, Xena gently moves the dual swords to lay on the porch in front of her before grabbing the pile of leather from beside her. The leather straps had become tangled together, having sat in the bottom of her pack since she had first moved to the Southern Air Temple. She had not been allowed to carry her swords or even to practice with them in the temple and she had been forced to practice with a pair of wooden sticks in order to keep her skills from getting rusty.

Once she finishes untangling the straps, she attaches them to the back of a circular piece of leather. Another slightly smaller circular piece of leather is stitched to the larger one with gaps between the two where she can slide the two scabbards into. It's a bit bulkier than she would like, but it serves her unique draw style well. Once the pieces of the harness are all attached, she slides the harness on and begins to tighten and rearrange the straps till they fit comfortably across her body. Only then, does she sheath her swords in their proper scabbards. The dual swords sit in a rather strange position on her back, facing upside down with the hilts at her hips and the point of the blades sticking out above her shoulders.

"That's a weird way to carry those."

"I don't recall asking your opinion," Xena replies, turning to face the Water Tribe boy.

Sokka's shoulders are hunched slightly and to her surprise, he is eating a sweet bun with uncharacteristic slowness. He is apparently still upset about them being ambushed by a bunch of girls. Xena finds that she doesn't have much sympathy for him; although, she does find it a bit disconcerting that he doesn't snap at her for taking one of the many sweet buns he has cradled in his arms.

"Did you just buy those swords?" He asks.

"No."

"I've never seen them before."

"I kept them hidden."

"Oh."

Xena lets out a frustrated sigh and steps off the porch. "I'm going for a run. Probably won't be back till late. Let Katara and Aang, know for me."

"Sure, whatever."

"Oh, and Sokka? Stop sulking. If you're upset about something then face it like a warrior."

She breaks into a jog with her last word and doesn't see the look of thoughtful consideration and then determination that appears on the older boys face.

lxxxXXXxxxl

Despite the cool winter air, Xena is hot and sweaty by the time she finishes her run. Collapsing onto her back in the shade beneath the trees lining the beach, she takes deeps breaths to slow her heartbeat while ignoring the way her sheathed swords dig into her back. As she lies there with only her breathing and the crash of waves to keep her company, she allows Aang's emotions to seep through their bond. His joy and excitement at all the attention he is getting is contagious and she finds herself smiling for no real reason than because he is happy.

"You should smile more, love. It'll make you more approachable."

Xena's smile falls at the already familiar voice. "Who says I want to be approachable?"

"You'd rather be intimidating and scare everyone you meet?" Rio asked, dropping down to sit by the Guardian.

"I'd rather be left alone."

"No one likes being alone. Even introverts like you need company and conversation sometimes."

"I'm perfectly fine without a complete stranger's company or conversation."

"My name's Rio. I'm second in command of the Kyoshi Warriors. I'm seventeen years old, single, and I've never left this island."

"What?" Xena asked in confusion as she sat up to finally look at the other girl.

Rio grinned wolfishly. "You said you were fine without a complete stranger's company. Now, we're not strangers."

Xena is taken off guard by this remark and gapes at the girl in shock for a moment. Rio's smirk turns into an actual smile as she begins to laugh. Xena is just dumbfounded by it all. Eventually, the Guardian stands up and makes to leave the strange Kyoshi native behind.

"Wait."

"What?" Xena snaps as Rio quickly clambers to her feet.

"Do you know how to use those?" Rio asks, pointing to the swords on Xena's back.

"Yes."

"Good. Then how about this, if you spar with me, I promise not to speak to you."

"You think that _you_ can best _me_?"

"Not at all. You were able to take on me and the majority of the Kyoshi Warriors all by yourself without any bending or weapons. I'm sure you can kick my ass all around this beach and I won't be able to land a scratch on you."

Xena considers for a moment. She doesn't know this girl and she doesn't really want to either. However, Rio is quite the capable warrior and it has been an awfully long time since Xena has crossed swords with anybody. She loathes to admit it, but she really could use the practice of fighting a living and thinking opponent.

"Very well," She finally agrees. "As long as you hold to your promise of not speaking."

"Not a word."

Xena's assessment of Rio as a capable warrior turns out to be correct. Every time Xena successful disarms Rio or knocks her on her ass, the frustration, and anger at having allowed the Kyoshi Warriors to capture Aang begins to disappear. It helps that every victory over Rio costs quite a bit of effort, proving that Xena had not lost to a weak opponent yesterday. In fact, if it weren't for Xena's advantage of knowing several different sword fighting styles, she's almost positive that Rio would have won the majority of their bouts.

Eventually, their sparring comes to an end, having exhausted themselves out. They laid on their backs in silence save for their harsh breathing. As the salt water of the high tide began to lap at her exposed skin and seep into her clothes, Xena finally sat up.

"It's been quite awhile since I've been able to spar like that with someone. I enjoyed it. Thank you, Rio."

"I know a much more enjoyable type of sparring if you're interested," Rio replied with another one of her mischievous wolfish smirks.

Xena's brow furrowed in confusion for a moment before widening in realization. "Y-you. . . you." Giving up on speaking as her face burned red, she splashed a wave of water at the smirking Kyoshi Warrior.

Rio laughed at her expression. "Who knew the Guardian could get so flustered?"

Xena splashed more water at her before standing and began to walk back to drier land. Rio followed her, wringing water out of her sandy brown hair.

"So I've been wanting to ask . . . Why didn't use your bending when we capture you and your friends on the beach."

"I don't bend unless there's no other choice."

"And you didn't deem our attack and being outnumbered enough incentive to bend?"

"You took the effort to tie up my friends meaning you weren't planning on straight out killing us. Had you tried to kill us then and there, I wouldn't have hesitated to use my bending."

Rio moved in front of Xena, walking backwards as they moved towards the village. "You certainly are a strange one, Guardian Xenia. It makes me wonder what happened in your past to have left you with such mental scars."

Xena's eyes flashed dangerously, spine straightening till she loomed over the other girl. "Do not speak of things, you know nothing about."

Xena strode past her after saying that, shoulder checking the girl in her irritation. Rio winced and ran a hand through her hair before calling out to the rapidly retreating back of the Avatar's Guardian.

"Guard- Xenia, I apologize. I truly meant no offense. If you are not too angry about my callous words tomorrow and wish to spar again then you can find me at the Kyoshi dojo at the north end of the village. And . . . my other offer is still open as well. Goodnight."

Xena kept on walking, making no sign of having heard her. Rio sighed and turned to go to her own home.

lxxxXXXxxxl

"Oh, Xena, there- why are you wet?"

"We're you waterbending?" Aang asked with an excited grin at the prospect.

"No," Xena replied bluntly and took a seat at the dining table after offering a polite bow to their elderly host.

"Oh…" Aang said, shoulders slumping.

"Well, I'm going to turn in for the night," Their host said as he rose from the table. "Have a goodnight."

"Goodnight, sir."

"Night."

Xena helped herself to some of the food on the table after he had departed before raising an eyebrow at a sulking, not eating Sokka. "You're still sulking."

"He got his butt kicked again by that Kyoshi Warrior, Suki."

"Really? Did you insult them again? Maybe instruct them in how boys are better warriors than girls."

"No," Sokka denied, voice cracking.

She frowned thoughtfully before careful setting her bowl and chopsticks down. "Hold out your hands."

"Huh?"

"Hold out your hands."

Katara and Aang shared glances as the Water Tribe boy did as she asked. Xena drew her blue tinted blade slowly and rested the flat of the blade against the palm of her free hand as she stared once more at the inscription. Exhaling a quiet sigh, she carefully deposited the sword into Sokka's hands, causing Aang to gasp in shock beside her.

"Xenia, what-"

"What you are holding is a part of my soul."

"Wh-what? What do you mean your-"

She covered Sokka's mouth with a hand. "Let me finish please."

She only removed her hand when he nodded his head slowly. "This sword's name is Frost. It represents a part of my warrior soul and yes, Sokka, a woman can be a warrior. Warriors are shaped by their experiences, not by their gender. No one picks up a weapon and immediately knows how to fight. Some learn fast, but in the end, it takes practice, persistence, and hard work.

"The Kyoshi Warriors are no exception to this. And the fact that quite a few are close to our age, tells you just how hard working they are. Especially since they have the even harder task of not bending to the criticism of others saying it's not a woman's place to fight."

Sokka looked from Xena to the sword in his hands and then back to her. "You're speaking from experience, aren't you? That's why you got so angry when we were flying."

"I'm a Sword sharpened by the whetstone of my experiences," Xena replied and then took her sword back.

The gentleness with which she handled the sword as she sheathed, amazed the other three. She returned to her food, but not before making one last comment.

"As a self-taught fighter, you might be able to learn something from the Kyoshi Warriors."

lxxxXXXxxxl

" _On your feet, girl!"_

 _Xenia started to push herself up of the ice, panting for breath. Her frost covered form shook as she tried to stand._

" _I said, 'On Your Feet'!"_

 _A whip of ice cold water smacked down between her shoulder blades, making her slip and slam back onto the ice._

" _Tch! I don't know how they expect me to train a weak little girl like you in the art of waterbending. A Guardian to the Avatar. Ha! What a joke? You'd be better suited to be his Healer or better yet his Concubine."_

 _Xenia grit her teeth and pushed herself up, only succeeding at getting to her feet and staying on her feet by force of will. Muscles trembling with effort, she dropped back into her bending stance. Before she could begin to practice her bending again, a warm blanket was draped around her shoulders._

" _Jirou, hasn't today's session gone on long enough? Xenia's dead on her feet and dinner is getting cold."_

" _If this girl can't push through a little exhaustion, then she might as well give up on becoming anything worthwhile."_

" _Jirou! How could you say that? She's your daughter, you're supposed to-"_

" _She's no child of mine! No child of mine would be so weak at waterbending."_

" _Jirou!"_

" _Just go home. We'll join you when we're done here."_

" _No, Jirou. Xenia is coming home with me, back to my parents' house."_

 _Xenia glanced between her parents' faces as her mother picked her up and began to walk away from her father. Jirou glared back at her and the young girl quickly buried her face into her mother's shoulder and. . ._

. . . Woke up. Xena gripped her shirt over her heart as she took shaky frantic breaths. Moisture clung to her eyelashes and the rapid beat of her heart sent adrenaline surging through her body. Her muscles trembled and a strangled sob escaped her as tears began running down her face.

"Xena?"

She buried her face in her knees as a gentle hand touched her shoulder. Another hand brushed hair away from her face before, pulling Xena into a comforting hug. Caught between nightmares of the past and her overwhelming fear in the present, she only vaguely recognized that while warm, the body holding her was not as warm as she was used to and much slimmer as well.

"Oh, Xena. . . What happened to you?"

lxxxXXXxxxl

Why was it so bright? Groaning, Xena rolled onto her side and pulled a blanket over her head.

"Are. . . sure. . . anything?"

She slowly drew the blanket down as she heard the quiet whispering from behind the closed door. Straining her hearing to its limit, she was just able to make out Aang and Katara talking.

"I'm sorry, Katara, but Xena's never told me anything about her past."

"But you have to know something. I mean, this can't possibly be the first time that Xena's had nightmares like this."

"It's not the first time, but Monk Gyatso or Drake were always the ones that would calm her down whenever she had nightmares."

"Drake?"

"Her best friend, a boy from the Fire Nation."

Katara sighed. "I just wish I knew something I could do to help her."

"It couldn't have been that bad."

"You didn't see her, Aang. She was so scared. I've never seen anyone that afraid before, especially Xena. I mean, she's always so strong and stoic all the time. But last night, tt was like she was stuck in her own personal hell. She refused to let me leave and she kept saying that she was 'sorry' and "don't leave me'."

Xena closed her eyes as she heard the concern in Katara's voice. She was Aang's Guardian. She was supposed to be strong and infallible, but all it took was one little nightmare to change all that.

 _It wasn't just a_ little _nightmare though._

 _I know that, but . . . I shouldn't have had to been comforted by Katara._

Inner thoughts running rampant, Xena could do little more than curl up into a ball and weather the storm of her emotions. Her heart ached for Drake in that moment. He had been far more than just her best friend. He had been her anchor and her confident. The one she would seek out when she was feeling low for his ability to make her feel loved and feel that with him by her side, she would be able to overcome any challenge.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself out of the guest bed and quickly put on her sword harness. The crisscross of the straps and the weight of her swords on her back, allowed her to rein in her emotions and put on a mask of neutrality. Katara and Aang jumped in surprise as she slid the door open and joined them in the hall. Feeling Aang's concern through their bond and seeing it shining in Katara's blue eyes as well, Xena took a deep breath as she forced a smile and bowed to Katara.

"Thank you for helping me last night and I apologize if I concerned you."

"Xena, what was that last night?"

"Bad memories," She answered and straightened up. "That I don't want to talk about, so please don't ask."

"Xena…"

She forced another smile. "I'll be fine. I promise."

"Alright, just. . . take it easy today, ok?" Aang requested.

"Will do. Now, I'm going to go sit outside and meditate for a bit and then I'll probably wander the village for a bit."

lxxxXXXxxxl

Xena's meditation took the form of her repeating her wolf warrior oath to herself until she felt centered and balanced again. Once done with her meditation, she wandered the village, ignoring the way the villagers fawned over her in awe. Her wandering brought her to the north end of the village where the Kyoshi dojo was.

She hesitated in the doorway, watching as the Kyoshi Warriors trained. She managed to find Rio easily enough. The Kyoshi Warrior working on correcting the stances of a small group of girls that were younger than Aang. She was quickly distracted from Rio by the sight of a familiar face among the female warriors.

"So you took my advice to heart."

"Xenia!" Sokka gasped, blushing beneath his face paint at he tugged at the sleeves of his borrowed Kyoshi Warrior uniform.

"Xena," She corrected and saw Sokka's eyes widen in surprise.

She turned her attention towards Rio who had noticed her presence and was now heading their way.

"I didn't think you'd come today after what I said yesterday."

"As much as I wish what you said was wrong, it wasn't. You also happen to be quite the adept sparring partner, so if you're not too busy. . ."

"Give me twenty minutes. I'll meet you in the same spot as yesterday."

Xena nodded and turned back to Sokka. "Try not to get your ass kicked too much."

lxxxXXXxxxl

Rio danced backward across the sand, deflecting Frost with a closed fan while leaning away from the red blade of Smoke. Her ankle rolled beneath her and Xena was quick to press her advantage, knocking aside the girls' fans and lunging forward. Backpedaling, the Kyoshi Warrior ran into a tree and was forced to surrender with the sharp tip of Smoke lightly touching her collarbone.

"You really are an amazing swordswoman even if you seem a bit distracted."

"Years of training," Xena replied, stepping back and sheathing her swords. "Which will matter very little if I can't get ahold of my emotions."

"Perhaps that's the problem, love," Rio commented as she stored her fans in her belt. "You keep trying to push your emotions to the side instead of actually talking about them."

"Oh, and who would I share them with? My twelve-year-old charge who I'm supposed to protect, or maybe the Water Tribe siblings who I've only known for a couple of weeks. Oh, I know. How about you. The girl I've only known for a couple of days."

Rio held up her hands placatingly. "Hey, there. No need to get snarky, I was just making a suggestion."

Xena sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just . . . The one person I always turned to in past when I felt like this is most likely dead. And it's difficult accepting that I'll never be able to talk to him again. I just wish I could forget it all, even if it is just for a few minutes."

"And you thought sparring would help you do that?"

"In the time when I couldn't turn to him, physical exertion was always what I turned to instead."

"Exhaust the body, exhaust the mind kind of thing."

"Exactly."

Rio nodded and dropped into a fighting stance, "Then what are we taking a break for. Let's get back to- mmph."

Xena leaned back slightly, hands braced on the trunk of the tree as she trapped Rio in. "Does your previous offer still stand?"

Slightly dazed, Rio raised a hand to touch her lips. "Are you sure, love? I mean I'm not opposed to it, I just . . . to be honest, I thought you were straight."

"I've only ever dated one boy," Xena answered. "But I'm no stranger to female companionship either."

"My house is just on the edge of town, we can be there in five minutes."

"Lead the way."

lxxxXXXxxxl

Despite the heat and humidity of Rio's bathroom, Xena still shivered as Rio gently traced the jagged scars running across her collarbone and down her chest.

"You regret it, don't you?"

"Yes and no," Xena answered, ringing the water out of her hair as she stood. "Thank you for this, Rio?"

"No problem, love," Rio replied as she washed the rest of the soap suds from her hair before following Xena out of the bathroom.

"Someone's knocking on your door."

"Probably just one of the other Kyoshi Warriors wanting to complain about me disappearing from the dojo," Rio answered, quickly throwing on a simple shirt and pants to answer the door.

"The Fire Nation has landed on our shores! They're after the Avatar!"

Xena froze for a moment, pausing in the action of rewinding the cloth around her forearms. She straightened to her full height abruptly grabbing her sword harness from where she'd set it aside earlier, pulling it on and shrugging to settle it into a more comfortable position.

"Xenia, the Fire-"

"I know," Xena cut Rio off and ignored the surprised expression of the other Kyoshi Warrior. "Let's go."

lxxxXXXxxxl

Xena crouches on a rooftop between Rio and Suki. Her silver eyes narrow as she catches sight of the Fire Nation Prince leading a group of soldiers riding komodo rhinos. Her muscles tense in preparation, hands clasping around the hilts of her swords.

"The prince is mine," She informed the Kyoshi Warriors, voice like ice.

"Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever," Zuko calls into the seemingly deserted village.

He orders his men to spread out to search for the bald monk. Xena is one of the first to attack, dropping down from the roof to knock Zuko out of his saddle. He recovers quickly, jumping to his feet and punching fire at her. She skillfully dodges the blast, closing the distance between them with her swords drawn and at the ready. He ducks to avoid decapitation by Frost while knocking Smoke aside with the bracer on his right arm. He pivots on one foot to kick her in the stomach. Using the momentum from the blow, she rolled backward and onto one knee.

"If you're here, then the Avatar must be close by," He remarked, watching her warily.

"If you think I will let you anywhere near Aang, then you are sadly mistaken," She answered icily and rolled to the side to avoid his fire blasts.

Sokka charges from an alley at Zuko with a war cry, still dressed in garb of a Kyoshi Warrior. While Zuko is distracted by the crossdressing warrior, Suki comes from practically know where in a flying kick that knocks him flying. Seeing that he is surrounded, Zuko quickly stands and kicks a ring of fire. Xena broke the flame around her as Sokka and Suki are knocked back into a porch railing and a wall respectively.

"Nice try, Avatar! But these little girls can't save you."

"Hey, over here!" Aang yells, dropping from a rooftop farther up the street.

Zuko takes a single step towards the Avatar, only to be knocked down as Xena tackled him from behind. The firebender let out an angry shout as he ripped her off his back and over his head. Her swords clattered to the ground and she cursed before throwing a jab into the prince's throat. He choked in startled surprise and Xena kicked him away from her before grabbing her swords.

"Xena!"

The Guardian ignored Katara's shout, her eyes and crescent moon tattoo beginning to glow slightly as power surged through her. She pulled all the water from the village fountain without looking and sent it surging past her. It crashed into Zuko, knocking the firebender into a building and freezing him in place.

"Xena, come one we need to leave."

With one last glare at Zuko, Xena turned her back and ran after Katara. "Right behind you."

"Appa, yip yip!" Aang shouted as soon as the two waterbenders joined him and Sokka.

"You used waterbending," Katara stated, watching the village as the Fire Nation troops turn around and began marching back towards the beach.

"Don't remind me," She replied, sheathing her swords. "I'd have preferred using fire over water, but I didn't want to risk lighting any more buildings on fire."

"Those firebenders really did do a lot of damage," Sokka remarked, staring over the saddle at the burning village.

Aang bowed his head sadly at the sight and Katara leaned over the saddle's edge to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know it's hard, but you did the right thing. Zuko would have destroyed the whole place if we stayed."

"They'll be okay, Aang. The Kyoshi Warriors are strong and so are the rest of the villagers," Sokka added.

Aang's grip tightens on the reins and Xena lunges for him, sensing his thoughts through their bond. She misses him by a hairsbreadth as he dives off Appa into the sea below.

"Aang!"

"What are you doing?!"

A large sea serpent rises out of the water with Aang on its head with a tight grip of its whiskers.

"So that's a Unagi," Is all Xena manages to say before the serpent begins to spray water over the village, extinguishing the many fires. Once they are out, it flips it's head and launches Aang skyward.

Xena leaned forward to catch him and drag him into the saddle, admonishing words on the tip of her tongue.

"I know. I know. That was stupid and dangerous," He says sheepishly. "But I had to do something."

"Yes, it was," Katara agreed and then dragged him into a hug. "But it was very brave of you too."

 **Warning! Slightly scatterbrained A/N.**

 **This is currently my favorite chapter of the ones I've rewritten and its three times the length of the original chapter. Hope its worth the wait. Did anyone notice the reference/Easter Egg I made? Also if anyone wants an idea of how Xena, carries her swords and what the harness looks like, then look up pictures of Layla from The Scorpion King 2.**

 **Playlist: "Here Comes A Thought" from Steven Universe, "The Magic Inside" Aviators Remix.**

Momochan77- **That was my intention and to be honest, I almost cried while writing that chapter.**

Moniquita2- **I'm glad you think my writing is beautiful. Every comment like this helps me to feel like my writing really has improved.**

Lizyeh2000- **You're very welcome and here's another chapter for you to enjoy.**


	6. Omashu and Prisons

**Book One: The Avatar's Guardian (Water)**

 **Chapter Five: Omashu and Prisons**

* * *

Xena had fought firebenders and won. She'd completed her waterbending training beneath an abusive teacher and she'd survived near-fatal wounds. By Agni, she'd even faced an enraged dragon trying to kill her friends. Xena was more than just a warrior, she was a survivor. No one who knew of her past or had seen her fight, would dare call her weak. It was for this reason that she found herself frustrated and irritated with Katara.

Ever since they'd left Kyoshi Island, the other Water Tribe girl had taken to treating Xena like she was made of glass. Every morning, Katara would ask how Xena had slept and would ask how she was at least five times per day. She was at least smart enough to ask Xena for details about her nightmare on Kyoshi Island. All Xena wanted to do was forget that it had happened, but Katara's obvious concern only made her frustration grow. To avoid taking it out on her friends, Xena withdrew from them and busied herself with other things. Her avoidance only seemed to make Katara more concerned, creating an endless cycle.

"Oh, wow!"

Aang's sudden exclamation drew Xena from her thoughts and she looked up at him. "What is it, Aang?"

"Isn't that the Lover's Tree, Xena?" Aang asked, pointing towards a massive cherry blossom tree sitting at the peak of a small mountain.

Xena's eyes widened in shock. "It is! I didn't think it was possible for that tree to get any bigger."

"It's beautiful," Katara gasped in breathless awe. "What kind of tree is that?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess they wouldn't have cherry blossom trees in the South Pole," Aang said in realization and directed Appa down to land beneath the drooping branches of the blooming tree.

A breeze made the branches sway and bright pink petals drifted down around them. Xena caught one and carefully held it up with a soft smile.

"This isn't just any cherry blossom though. The Lover's Tree is one of the largest shidarezakura* trees in the world and it's always in bloom." Xena slid out of the saddle and pressed her hand against the tree trunk. "Legend says that the tree was keep blooming as long as the people of Omashu have hope and love in their hearts."

"Xena, your girly side is showing," Sokka said, unimpressed by the tree.

"It's not her girly side, Sokka. It's her romantic side," Aang corrected as he plucked a flower and held it out to Katara's hair with a goofy smile and a slight blush.

"You're the one that thinks it's romantic, Aang. I just really like myths and legends."

"Hey, can we stop by Omashu since we're so close?" The bald monk asked suddenly, eyes shining at the possibility.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Xena started, but quickly gave into the young boy's pleading expression. "But I suppose a few hours wouldn't hurt-"

"Whoo!" The boy cheered, jumping into the air.

"-As long as you wear a disguise."

The boy's excitement fizzled out for a few seconds before coming back. "I guess that's fair. This will be great, we can visit all our old spots and-"

Xena cut Aang off again. "I won't be going with you guys. I always got in trouble whenever I went with you and I'm still technically banned from the last time."

"Banned?" Katara questioned.

"I don't believe it. You, of all people, managed to get banned from a city?" Sokka questioned in disbelief.

"It's a long story."

"Which occurred a hundred years ago. I doubt they'll even recognize you especially if you were to wear a disguise too," Aang said with a pleading smile.

"Sorry, Aang. But I'd rather just hang out here with Appa."

"Okay," The boy said with slumped shoulders.

He didn't remain disappointed for long though, excitement overtaking him again at the prospect of showing the Water Tribe siblings around the grand city. With the help of Sokka, some rope, and donated fur from Appa, they made Aang a wig and a mustache. Aang completed the disguise with some believable acting, hunching over and leaning on his staff.

"Now let's get skipping, young whippersnappers. The big city awaits," He says in an old man voice.

"Remember, Aang. You're just visiting for a few hours."

"Just a few hours. I promise."

Once the three other teens and Momo had left, Xena turned to look at Appa. The giant creature blinked one of his big brown eyes at her and rumbled softly when she petted the fur over his nose.

"What do you think, Appa? Do we have time to catch up on some lost sleep before they come back."

In response, the sky bison yawned and slumped to the ground with a heavy thump.

"Yeah, that's plenty of time," Xena answered her own question, laying down beside the bison beneath the shade of the weeping cherry.

She blew a petal of her palm and watched as the breeze caught it and sent it dancing through the air. This place was so beautiful and relaxing. It reminded her of her days in the Fire Nation with Drake.

lxxxXXXxxxl

Brow furrowed, Xena rubbed at her itchy nose, brushing away the pink petal that had disturbed her sleep. For a minute, she was disoriented, wondering why Drake let her fall asleep in the garden as she stared up at the pink blossoms, tinted orange by the setting sun. A rumbling sound behind her reminded her of Appa's presence. Following that realization, she also realized that she was not in the Drake's garden, but instead lying under the Lover's Tree.

She jumped to her feet and looked around for Aang and the siblings. Not finding them, it was easy to come to the conclusion that they were not back yet, despite how late it had gotten. Sighing, she climbed into Appa's saddle to retrieve Smoke and Frost.

"So much for a few hours," She voiced to a drowsy Appa before jumping back down. "Hopefully, I'll be back soon with the others in tow. If not, I give you permission to completely destroy the city. Sound good, buddy?"

Appa groaned and covered his face with one of his paws.

"Sounds good," She answered her own question and set off for the city.

It was a ten-minute hike down from the Lover's Tree and Xena quickly sped up her pace when she saw the great stone doors, beginning to slide shut. She slid through with a few seconds to spare, doors closing into a seamless wall of rock behind her.

"Cutting it a bit close there, aren't you, Miss?" One of the guards questioned.

"My apologies, sir," She said politely and set off in the direction her bond with Aang was pulling her.

"Wait a minute!" A different guard called out behind her. "Is your name Xena per chance?"

"Xenia," She corrects sharply. "Only my friends are allowed to call me Xena."

The two guards exchanged glances before dropping into bending stances. "Miss Xenia, I'm afraid you're under arrest."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "For what?"

"Uh? Why is she under arrest, Daisuke?"

"Because the King ordered her arrest, that's why?"

"That doesn't seem fair. I mean, she hasn't really done anything wrong has she."

"I'm sure the King has his reasons. Now stop questioning orders and help me arrest this- Hey! Stop!"

While the two guards had been bickering, Xena had slipped away. Hearing the guards shout, she burst into a full out run. There was only one reason someone would want to arrest her right now and that would be because Aang must have been captured. A stone slab suddenly rose up in front of her, catching her foot and sending her sprawling. Before she could push herself up, her hands were yanked behind her back and restrained with stone.

Well, this was just perfect. Saving Aang and the siblings would have to wait until she saved herself.

lxxxXXXxxxl

"Genomite is made of rock candy. Delicious!"

Xena had a few choice words as to where the King of Omashu could stick that genomite as she was pushed into the throne room by a massive earthbender.

"Oh, yes. I suppose I should return your Guardian to you as well," The King added.

He had visited her after the guards had thrown her into a fairly large and well decorated bedroom that they called a dungeon. The King's display made him seem quite crazy, but his eyes had held a knowing intelligent glint in them as he explained her situation. She would be released as soon as the Avatar had finished the three dangerous tasks that King set before him. Xena's threat of bodily harm and murder fell on deaf ears when he had left.

"Xena!" Aang said in surprise at the sight of her.

"What took you so long?" Sokka demanded. "We were waiting for you to come rescue us all day."

"You were only meant to visit for a few hours," Xena retorted as she rubbed at her wrists after they released from her restraints. "I came to get you only to be arrested as soon as I stepped past the city gate."

"My apologies for that, Xena, but I couldn't have you ruining my plans for Aang."

The female warrior let out a derisive snort. "You never could do anything in a normal way, could you, Bumi?"

While sitting in that bedroom - she refused to call it a dungeon - she had plenty of time to think. When Aang had started the trials, she had used their bond to watch through his eyes. She had only ever known one person who would make the most random and misleading tasks into a challenging test. The guards had come to collect her shortly after the King had asked his final question of Aang. On the walk to the throne room, she finally realized Bumi's real identity only a few seconds before Aang, whose joy at the realization had lifted her own mood through their bond.

Aang's old friend laughed with a snort. "Where's the fun in being normal?"

Xena sighed and suddenly smiled. "Despite the fact you had me thrown in jail, it is really good to see you again, Bumi."

"So, this crazy old king, is really your old friend, Bumi?" Katara questioned, brushing small rock crystals from her clothes.

"Who are you calling old?" Bumi demanded and the waterbender took a nervous step closer to her brother. "Okay, I'm old."

"Perhaps in body, but never in spirit," Xena told him and the King smiled the same goofy smile he'd always had as a kid.

"What I want to know," Sokka started. "Is why you did all of this instead of just telling Aang who you were?"

"It's fun messing with people! But, believe it or not, I do have a good reason.," The King said seriously while tucking his hands into his wide sleeves. "Aang, a difficult task awaits you. In the hundred years you've been gone, the world has gone through some drastic changes as you have no doubt already become aware of. It is the duty of the Avatar to restore balance to the world by ending this century-long war and you have much to learn. Just like today, Xena will not always be around to protect you or to fight your battles, so you must master all four elements if you are to confront the Fire Lord and win. When the come times to defeat him, I hope you will think like a mad genius! You will need the help of your friends on this long journey ahead of you and it appears you are in good hands." Momo suddenly jumped onto Bumi's shoulder. "You'll need Momo's help as well."

"Thank you for your wisdom and advice, Bumi," Aang bowed then jumped forward to hug the elderly earthbender. "But before we leave, I have a challenge for you. One ride for old time's sake?"

The King snorted a laugh. "Of course, Aang. I would love to. But first I believe I should return your friend's weapons. Daisuke, fetch Xena's Fire and Ice as well those other things we took."

"Smoke and Frost," Xena corrected with a sigh.

"Right away, sir."

''While Daisuke does that, I must ask you a serious question, Xena."

Bumi was never one to ask her serious questions. Hoping that her surprise didn't show on her face or in her voice, Xena replied nervously, "What is it?"

"Don't I get a hug from you as well?"

Her shoulders relaxed and she smiled. "Of course, Bumi."

Bumi's form was slender, but Xena could still feel the packed muscle that was hidden beneath the King's baggy robes. His breath was warm against her ear as he whispered to her quietly. He released her when the earthbender soldier came back and was quick to rush out of the room with Aang while leaving Xena and the siblings to reclaim their stuff.

"You okay, Xena? You look a bit troubled."

"Just thinking, I'll be fine."

She tightened the straps of her swords more than she intended while trying to rein in her emotions. No matter how successful she was at wiping her emotions from her face, she was unable to wipe the King's words from her mind.

" _They're stronger than you think they are, especially Aang. Tell them your past, Xena. They'll understand. I promise."_

lxxxXXXxxxl

It was so tempting to finally tell Aang and the siblings about her past. Bumi's words echoed in her thoughts ever since they left Omashu. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to tell them. However, her fear of their judgment would not let the words pass her lips. She feared that they would never look at her the same way again. That they would see as someone who was weak and in need of pity. More importantly, she feared placing the weight of her past on their shoulders.

Even if she could find the courage to tell them, she didn't think she'd be able to find the words to explain the anxiety thoughts of her childhood brought her. How could she explain to them that she stayed up late into the night, terrified of falling asleep because of the nightmares she might have? How hearing certain phrases or discussing certain topics could fill her with a sense of inadequacy, making her feel that she wasn't good enough to be Aang's Guardian or that she was even deserving of love? And how, _how_ could she possibly explain to them that she hated her own ability to waterbend because it reminded her of the man that had taught her to bend. And that she hated to firebend because it reminded her of the fact that her father refused to believe that she was actually his daughter.

She couldn't, Xena reasoned. The best thing she could do was try and forget so that she could focus all her attention on making sure Aang was safe.

"You're doing it again."

Xena was pulled from her thoughts by Sokka's comment. "Doing what?"

"Brooding."

"I don't brood," She denied, brow furrowing.

"Actually, Xena," Aang said hesitatingly.

"You kind of do," Katara finished for him.

Did she really? She knew that she had a tendency to get absorbed in her thought. And when she did she tended to zone out, but-

"Dear Tui, I do."

Katara fell back to walk beside Xena, looking at her with a serious expression. "You know you can always talk to us if something's bothering you."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you." She forced a smile, surprised to find that she wasn't as frustrated by Katara's concern as she had been in the past.

Xena suddenly ruffled her bangs a bit so they covered her silver crescent moon. "Aang, do you still have that straw hat we picked up in the last town."

"Yeah, why?" He asked as the came to a stop.

"I want you to wear it," She answered. "The frequency with which Zuko has found us since we left Omashu makes me think that it is probably in our best interest to hide your airbending tattoos. They make you stand out too much."

"And your tattoos don't?" Sokka asked, gesturing towards the blue symbols inked into her skin.

"My tattoos are Water Tribe in origin. Rare to see, yes, but I doubt as rare as the tattoos of a race that only has one surviving member." Aang winced at her words. "Not to mention the fact that I can't hide my tattoos quite as easily as Aang can," She answered, gesturing towards the monk whose arrow tattoo was completely hidden under the straw hat. "Seeing as how they're on my face."

"But you had them concealed when we first met you," Katara pointed out.

"That's because they were covered up with a makeup that I don't currently have." Xena sighed quietly. "Look, I'm not saying that it's a foolproof plan, but it at least reduces the chance that Zuko will be able to track us."

"I must admit, I do like the idea of reducing our run ins with that jerkbender," Sokka mused, stroking his chin as he thought. "Hey, here's an idea. Xena, you could stay in the forest with Appa while Aang wears his hat. That way there won't be anyone around to see you with your tattoos."

"The last time I stayed with Appa, you three ended up the prisoners of a Mad Earth King," Xena pointed out. "So, no. I won't be staying with Appa.'

"Hmm, how about-"

"No more ideas," She cut him off. "Let's just go into town, get some food that isn't nuts, and leave."

lxxxXXXxxxl

Xena's fingers itch to close around the hilts of her swords as they peruse the merchant stalls. To an observant eye, it is quite easy to see the oppressive fog that hangs over the town. The marketplace is almost empty with several stalls closed, not surprising considering the time of the day. However, the shoppers that are there wander between the stalls or hold any extraneous conversations with the merchant. The merchants watch over their wares with a grim focus as if watching for thieves. As she watches Katara return a heavily bruised apple to a fruit stand with an apologetic smile to the tired looking merchant, Xena finds it hard to believe that anyone would want to steal any of the poor quality goods being offered.

"Hey," Aang says in a low voice to her and points towards something behind Xena. "Isn't that the boy that ran away from us earlier?"

She turns her head to see the young earthbender they had ran into earlier. The incident Aang was talking about happened shortly after Sokka had returned from foraging with only a handful of nuts and rocks. They had seen the boy bending in a dried out riverbed and Katara's initial thought had been to go and introduce herself. She had barely gotten out a greeting before the boy had fled.

"Yeah."

"Let's go talk to him," Katara said, having heard their hushed conversation and lead her brother and Aang into the shop that they boy disappeared into.

Xena hung back and instead approached the apple merchant. "Can I ask you something?"

"No, I don't have anything fresher. What you see is what you get?" The merchant snapped.

"That's not what I wanted to ask."

"I'm not going to answer any questions unless you buy something."

Her jaw clenched at the merchant's foul attitude. Irritated, she reached into her boot to withdraw the small pouch of money she'd stored there. She slapped a coin onto the stall, leaving it trapped beneath her hand as she leaned forward menacingly.

"Oh, you going to try and intimidate me now. Don't bother, I've faced men with a far angrier bark than you.

"Look, all I want to know is why everyone in this spirit-forsaken town seems on edge," She said between gritted teeth, so tempted to show that her "bark" was nothing compared to her bite.

"Why would any town be on edge?" The man replied and nodded his head to the side where a group of red-armored soldiers are exiting a shop. "Fire Nation."

Her muscles tensed as she watched the Fire Nation soldiers knock on the door to the store her friends had entered. Xena straightened her back and exhaled quietly as she forced the tension from her body. Her inner fire expanded as her vision takes on the blue and red tints of her heat sensing ability.

"Thank you," She told the merchant, her tone calm as she walked away.

On the stall, she left one of the few golden coins she had along with a small carving of catdeer. Due to her heat vision, she doesn't need to look behind her to see the way he slowly picks up the coin and carving. He glances around to see if anyone else had seen before sliding the coin into his belt. Once he'd stashed the coin, he stared at her back in confusion. Xena paid him no more attention after that as she enters the shop behind the soldiers.

"The tax just doubled. Wouldn't want an accident, would we?" One of the soldiers was telling the shopkeeper, before creating a small flame in his hand. "Fire is sometimes so difficult to control."

Xena reached her hand out and twisted her wrist as she closed her hand, putting the flame out easily. "Not for a skilled firebender it's not." The soldiers turned to look at her in surprise as she continued to talking. "Which, you must not be, if you're worried about controlling such a small flame. In which case, I must question your intelligence in the matter of creating a flame in a wooden shop, while knowing that an unskilled firebender such as you might not be able to control it."

Despite her calm facade, she was still rather irritated with the difficulty she had prying information from the merchant. It put her in a rather antagonistic mood and the soldiers just happened to be who she choose to take it out on. She knew as soon as she first started speaking that it probably wasn't the wisest decisions she had ever made. There was no going back now, she might as well go ahead and finish digging her grave by channeling the most antagonistic person she knew.

"You dare insult me, little girl" The soldier she'd insulted snapped angrily. "Do you know who I am?"

"A bully," She answered. "With an overinflated ego. You know with as big as your ego is, I really must wonder if you're trying to compensate for your poor firebending control or for. . . something else."

One of the soldiers chuckled quietly but fell silent at the glare the higher ranking soldier gave ugly purple color his face had turned in his angry made Xena's crude insults worth it.

"You… you," The captain sputtered.

"What about me?"

"Bitch!"

Xena saw the way Aang's eyes widened in surprise at the swear. He had not often heard cuss words as Xena and everyone else around him had always been careful to censor themselves. His surprise was quickly replaced with worry as the captain grabbed Xena by the collar of her shirt and cocked his arm back. He needn't have worried.

"What's going on here?" A stern voice demanded from behind Xena.

"Captain, I was just collecting the taxes and then this girl here insulted me."

"Are you so weak minded that a few insults would reduce you to violence," The captain said. "Let her go."

"But, sir-"

"Now, Lieutenant." Face twisted in an angry snarl, the firebender released her. "And now go take a walk until you've calmed."

He shoulder checked Xena on his way out, boots impacting heavily on the wood. The female warrior rocked with the motion, face free from emotion. She turned to face the captain, noting the vicious claw marks that ran across his face.

"It's not usually wise to insult a man twice your size," He remarked.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Thank you for your assistance - as unnecessary as it was."

"Unnecessary," He repeated, raising an eyebrow. Instead of pursuing the topic, he turned to the shopkeeper. "Do you have the money to pay your taxes?"

"Yes, right here," The woman said and quickly handed over a box filled with a handful of coins.

"You may keep the coppers," He said, placing the mentioned coins into her hand before gesturing the other soldiers out. He paused before leaving himself and locked his stern gaze on Xena. "Try to stay out of trouble, Ylva."

The captain missed the surprise that appeared on the young wolf warrior's face as he left the shop.

"What the hell was that, Xena?" Sokka demanded. "That soldier almost knocked your lights out."

"It would take far more than a punch to knock me out," She replied absentmindedly, now frowning as she stared after the Fire Nation captain.

"That still doesn't explain why you'd thought it would be a good idea to insult the guy."

"That wasn't like you at all," Katara added.

Aang adjusted his hat nervously as he spoke, "You sounded like Temari."

Xena shrugged. "That was kind of the point. Figured if he attacked me first, no one could really blame me for defending myself when I kicked his ass. Also . . . I may have been taking out some frustration from dealing with a very unhelpful merchant." She cleared her throat and turned her attention to the shopkeeper. "How long have the Fire Nation been here, anyway?"

"Five years. We're a coal mining town. Fire Lord Ozai uses the coal to fuel his ships," The shopkeeper answers.

"They're thugs; they steal from us and everyone here is to much of a coward to do anything about it," The earthbender boy says and then looks at Xena as he adds. "Unlike you. You're probably the bravest girl I've ever met. I wish I could be as brave, then I could fight back and-"

"Quiet, Haru," The shopkeeper, obviously his mother, snaps. "Don't talk like that."

"Why not?" Katara asked. "Haru's an earthbender. He can help."

"Earthbending is forbidden," His mother explains. "It's caused nothing but misery for this village. He must never use his abilities.

"How can you say that?" Katara demands. "Haru was born with a gift. Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are."

Xena's wince went unnoticed as Haru's mother replied. "You don't understand."

"I understand that Haru can help you fight back. What more can the Fire Nation do that it hasn't already done."

"They could take Haru away. Just like they took his father."

lxxxXXXxxxl

"They took him! They took Haru away!"

Xena jerked into a sitting position as Katara's sudden shout interrupted her morning meditation.

"What? Huh?" Sokka questioned, still half asleep.

"What do you mean Haru was taken?" Xena asked as the two boys rubbed the sleep from their eyes.

"The old man turned him into the Fire Nation," She answered and Xena uttered a curse and ran a hand through her bangs.

"Slow down, Katara. When did this happen?" Sokka asks, sliding out of his sleeping bag and putting a hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Haru's mother said they came for him at midnight," Katara answered before adding, "It's all my fault; I forced him into earthbending. We have to help him."

"No, we don't," Xena said bluntly, turning to pack up the few items they had scattered through the barn they'd spent the night in. "We need to move on, the longer we're here for the more likely we'll be caught as the Fire Nation."

"We have to help him," Katara repeated. "Haru and his mother were nice enough to let us stay in their barn and then I had to go and repay them by getting Haru arrested. We _have_ to go rescue him."

"Look as Aang's Guardian it's my job to protect him and the best way to do that is to keep him as far away from the Fire Nation as possible.

"I think Katara's right," Aang interjected into the conversation before the two girls can really begin to argue.

She lost the fight as soon as Aang took Katara's side. The young Avatar could never resist helping those in need. Frustrated, but unwilling to continue a futile argument especially when she had only just patched things up with Aang., Xena gives in. "As long as it is known that I object to this."

"How are we going to find Haru? It's too late to track him," Sokka said, ever the realist.

"We won't have to track him if the Fire Nation takes me right to Haru."

"Why would the do that?" Aang asked curiously.

"Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending."

lxxxXXXxxxl

"This is a terrible idea," Xena stated as she helped Sokka roll a boulder over the grate of a ventilation shaft.

"You've said that five times already," The Water Tribe boy replied.

"Probably because it's a phenomenally bad idea."

"Relax, Xena. It'll be fine," Katara assured.

"I thought it was a crazy idea too, but I'm starting to think this might actually work," Sokka says and pats the boulder. "There are ventilation shafts throughout the mine. If Aang bends an air current from that vent to this one, the boulder should levitate and tada, you got your fake earthbending."

"And once the soldiers see, they'll arrest me and take me to wherever Haru is while you guys follow us," Katara finished explaining the plan. "It's a brilliant idea."

"It's a terrible idea," Xena repeated. "And I'm not talking about the plan to get you arrested, I'm talking about what happens after. There's no guarantee that the soldiers will take you to the same prison where they're keeping Haru and even if they do, we might not be able to rescue either of you."

"We still have to try," Katara replied.

Sokka interrupted them, pointing up the road. "Here they come! Get into places!"

Xena gave Katara one more lingering glance before the two stepped onto the road. The Guardian rolled her shoulders back, portraying confidence she didn't really feel. As soon as the Fire Nation soldiers were in full view, she walked into Katara on purpose, faking a collision between them.

"Hey, watch it!" The words came out with less venom then she tried to put in them. "I'm walking here."

"No you watch it," Katara replied with a light shove.

Xena's gaze flicks briefly to the soldiers, realizing that if she sticks to the agreed upon script that this plan will fail. She inhales deeply to brace herself for what she's about to do. "Is that the best you can do. I bet your Gran Gran could shove harder than that."

"Don't bring my Gran Gran into this," Katara replied with only a slight hesitation before shoving Xena again harder than before.

The shove while more forceful than the first wouldn't normally be enough to move Xena, so she allows herself to stagger backward as if it was. Her ankle rolls beneath her as her intentional stagger leads her to accidently step on a rock that shifts beneath her. And just like that Katara's acting stops.

"Xena, I'm sorry I didn't mean to are you okay?" She asks, reaching out a worried hand.

Xena slaps her hand away as she regains her balance. "Will you quit it. I'm not made of glass."

"I never said you were," the other girl replied with a hurt expression.

"No, but you act like it." This wasn't what Xena had intended, but she has lost complete control of the situation. "Honestly, Katara can't you go one spirit damn day without trying to mother me?"

Katara's face twists in anger. "Well, I'm sorry if you don't appreciate my 'mothering', but maybe I wouldn't have to if you would just talk to me."

"I talk to you all the time."

"That's not what I mean and you know it. I'm worried about you, Xena."

"Don't be. I can take care of myself."

"Why won't you let me help you?!"

Xena couldn't help the scathing laugh or the harsh words that followed. "See that's the problem with you. You're always trying to help people and yet you haven't seemed to realize yet that some people don't want or need your help."

"Yeah, well maybe some people are just too pigheaded and distrustful to even realize or admit when they need help. Despite what you seem to think Xena, you can't actually do everything on your own."

"Yeah well, despite what you think, you can't actually help every single person that you meet," Xena replied and stepped closer to Katara until she was looming over the other girl in a show of intimidation. "Especially when that person is me. You'll just end up hurt if you do. How's that saying go, 'if you play with fire, you're going to get burned"

"I'm not scared of you."

"Oh, yeah." Xena's eyes flickered silver for a second. "And why's that?"

"Because I know you won't hurt me. No matter how angry you are."

"Really?" The female warrior asked and then reached up to shove Katara.

The shove was way more powerful than Katara's earlier shoves had been and she staggered back in surprise, eyes widening in surprise.

" _Guys, what are you doing?"_ Sokka demanded in a harsh whisper from his and Aang's hiding spot.

The boy's concerned whisper drains some of the anger out of her. An almost acidic taste fills her mouth as she realizes what they are doing. If it weren't for the watching group of soldiers, she would apologize to Katara and try to patch things up. Instead, she has no choice but to see this through to the end. And so with a heavy heart, she pushes Katara again.

"Stop," the waterbender says weakly.

Another push.

"Stop, Xena."

And another.

"Stop it!"

"Make me," The words burn her mouth far more than her cheek when Katara slaps her. "Pathetic."

" _Guys?"_ Sokka's whisper is a bit louder this time and Katara is actually able to hear him as well.

"I might not be able to best you in physical strength," Katara starts a bit weakly, voice growing stronger as she falls back into acting. "But I can beat you earthbending style."

For a moment after Katara strikes her stance, nothing happens. Aang like Sokka had become completely distracted by the very real argument the two of them had just had. Sokka recovered from his shock far faster and elbowed the monk in the side so he would airbend the rock into the air. And just like that, it's over and Katara is arrested by the soldiers.

Xena feigns amusement at the arrest as if glad to see the girl dragged off with a smirk. It's only when the soldiers are completely at of sight that she lets the smirk fall and allows her shoulders to slump in exhaustion.

"Xena?" Aang asked quietly, stepping forward onto the road beside her.

"Don't," She warns. "Let's just go find out where they're taking her, so we can get this over with."

As she walks away from them, she finds herself haunted by the hurt in Katara's eyes when she was dragged away.

lxxxXXXxxxl

Tense silence fills the air between the two Water Tribe warriors as they wait for Aang to return with Katara. Xena stared at the oil rig as she viscous whittled down a small piece of wood into nothing more than a toothpick with her knife. Suddenly she drops the knife into Appa's saddle, startling a sleeping Momo awake.

"Just spit it out."

Sokka could deny wanting to say anything, but once he sees the exhausted expression on Xena's face, he chooses not to.

"You made my sister cry, Xena, and I find that I have a problem with that. See, Katara's not really the kind of person that cries easily, so when she does cry, I feel that as her big brother I have a responsibility to punch in the face of whoever caused her to. However, I'm not so dumb as to think that I could take you in a fair fight."

Sokka pulled his club from his back and pointed at Xena with it. "That being said, if you ever lay another unkind hand on my sister again, I will find someway to cut it off."

"Sounds reasonable," She replied emotionlessly and then softened her voice in worry. "Do you think she'll forgive me?"

"She's Katara," Sokka replied with an eye roll as he returned his weapon to its place. "Of course she'll forgive you."

Some tension seeped from Xena's shoulders. A few minutes later she pointed out Aang and Katara as the two snuck across the rig back to them. Haru was not with them and Xena let out a quiet sigh as she realized that they would be staying even longer.

lxxxXXXxxxl

Xena fidgeted and shot glances at Katara as they waited for sunrise and for Aang to deliver the coal that they need to inspire the earthbenders to fight. Sokka and Momo had went with Aang to act as lookouts, leaving the two girls alone. It's the perfect time to talk about what had happened, but she finds it difficult to strike up a conversation.

Finally, she can't take it anymore and she blurts a shaky, "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry for earlier. I shouldn't have pushed you."

"It's okay," Katara replied without turning to Xena. "It was necessary."

"No, it wasn't. I should've just stuck to the plan instead of going off script like that."

Katara shifted uncomfortably beside her then turned to face the older girl. "Do you really feel like I'm mothering you?"

"You mother all of us," Xena replied. "It's not necessarily a bad thing, it shows that you care about us. It's just that ever since Kyoshi, you've been practically walking on eggshells around me."

"I-"

"I get it, you know. It must have scared you to see me like that."

"I've never seen you like that before," Katara agreed.

"And I never wanted you to." Xena sighed and brushed her bangs back, revealing the crescent moon on her brow. "When I first started training to protect Aang, my teacher told me I had to be strong, that there was no room for weakness. I suppose there's irony in the fact that he's the cause of all my weaknesses."

"Xena?"

"Anyways," She quickly moved on before Katara could ask questions she didn't want to answer. "Because of that I try not to show anyone my weaknesses and that night on Kyoshi, you saw one of my greatest weaknesses. I try to forget, but every time you ask if I'm okay or if I slept well it just reminds me of the fact that I'm not half as strong as I try to act."

She straightened her back as her inner fire flared brighter in response to the slowly rising sun.

"You aren't giving yourself enough credit," Katara replied, watching the sunrise as well. "You're one of the strongest and bravest people I know."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew my past. You'd pity me even more than you already do and I don't think I'd be able to stand that."

"I think that's a decision that's up to me to decide and without knowing your past I can't say if I would pity you or not."

"Maybe someday I'll tell you, but not yet. I'm not willing to take the chance."

"Then I won't push you for answers." Katara hesitated before adding. "However, I do have a question and you don't have to answer if you don't want to. Why . . . why do you hate waterbending so much."

Xena hesitated to answer, a phantom pain in her back and an ache in her heart. "All I can tell you right now is that fire is not the only element that can cause pain. Every single element can be used to hurt, whether that be cutting, breaking bones, burning, or even drowning and asphyxiation. With the ability to bend comes the responsibility of understanding the harm it can inflict on another."

The sleeping earthbenders began to stir awake and slowly began to take notice of Katara's fierce armed companion.

"You told Haru's mother that bending was what made you who you are," Xena continued, aware of the way Katara seemed to hang on her every word. "You weren't entirely accurate. Bending is a part of who you are, but it's how you use it that _makes_ you who you are. Try to remember that."

Katara isn't given time to respond as a guard spots them and shouts for backup. Xena drew her swords, the rasp of steel and the familiar weight comforting, as she took a stance in front of the younger girl.

"Katara, stop!" An old earthbender insists, stepping forward. "You can't win this fight."

Xena shifts her weight as the Fire Nation prison guards part for their warden. The man's wispy beard and thin face reminded her of a bearded snake-rat.

"Listen to him, children. You're one mistake away from dying where you stand," He tells them.

Sokka joins the two girls, meaning that Aang is in place. A few seconds later, coal shoots up out of a vent on a blast of wind, blowing off the vent cover and scattering coal onto the deck. Aang coughs as he lands on the deck as well, trying to brush away black coal dust. Katara scoops up a chunk of coal and turns to face the earthbenders.

"Here's your chance, earthbenders. "Take it! Your fate is in your own hands! Don't let the Fire Nation take away your right to bend."

Haru starts to step forward but is stopped by the older earthbender who had spoken to Katara before. The warden laughs.

"Foolish girl! You thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank hopeless faces. Their hope was broken long ago. Oh? But you still believe in them. How sweet. They're a waste of your energy, little girl. You've failed," With those final words, the warden turns to walk away.

"You know, Katara," Xena started quietly, spinning her swords. "For someone who's vowed not to bend, I've sure been doing it an awful lot."

She kicked a chunk of coal, lighting it on fire and sending it flying straight into the chest of the guard standing to the warden's left. The coal exploded on contact with the guard's armor, sending him staggering back with a surprised shout. At almost the exact same time, another unlit piece of coal struck the warden in the back of his head. Xena nods her head to Haru, who twirls coal above his hand as he moves to stand beside her.

The warden snarls and punches a fireball at the earthbender and dualbender. Xena shifts to break the flame apart, but before she can a wall of coal rises in front of them to block it.

"Show no mercy!" The Warden yells.

"For the Earth Kingdom!" The older earthbender who had raised the coal wall shouted, pushing the now burning wall of coal towards the warden and soldiers.

Xena joined the attacking earthbenders alongside Aang and the Water Tribe siblings, heat vision active and swords dancing through the air. Armed with coal, the earthbenders are more than a match for the firebenders, not only utilizing their own element, but also turning the Fire Nation soldiers' element against them whenever the coal gets set alight. The warden begs for mercy before the earthbenders throw him and the rest of his soldiers overboard on a wave of coal.

lxxxXXXxxxl

Xena dragged an oiled cloth down the blade of one of her swords, watching from the corner of her eye as Haru pulled Katara aside to speak with her. Sokka took a seat on a barrel beside her.

"So. . ."

"So?"

"You and Katara worked things out."

"We came to an agreement," She shrugged and then turned to look at him. "I'm sorry by the way."

"For what?" Sokka asked in confusion and Xena paused in her sword care.

"For being so difficult. I'm . . . not good at connecting with people and I keep a lot of secrets."

Sokka scratched his chin before responding. "They aren't our secrets to know and you're actually not all that difficult."

"Please, I'm stubborner than an earthbender and colder than an icicle."

"Well, you got the stubbornness part right."

She bowed her head at his ready agreement, torn between amusement and regret. He suddenly laughed.

"I guess it wasn't such a terrible idea after all."

It was a good way to lighten the mood and she couldn't help the slight upturn of her lips or the quiet chuckle that escaped her.

"See look at that smile. There's no way you're cold," Sokka said, surprising Xena.

"Of course she's not cold," Aang said, catching the tail end of Sokka's statement. "She can use firebending to adjust her body temperature."

Sokka and Xena exchanged brief glances and laughed as Aang stared at them in bemusement.

"What? What did I say?"

 ***** **A** **shidarezakura tree - also known as a weeping cherry -is a type of cherry blossom tree.**

 **This chapter is long overdue and I have no excuse for how long it took to get this written. I'm not quite happy with the very ending of this chapter, but I wanted to get this to you guys as soon as possible. Hope you enjoy. Please drop a review.**

 **Side Note: It's surprisingly difficult to avoid writing lies even white lies when writing Xena's dialogue.**


	7. Hei Bai

**Book One: The Avatar's Guardian (Water)**

 **Chapter Six: Hei Bai**

* * *

Xena perched like a strange wingless bird atop a large boulder overlooking their campsite. She had woken early after a restless night and had taken up her position so that she could watch the others as they slept. And as she watched, she thought.

Here they were, four children, an air bison, and a lemur on a journey to save the world. Xena had years of training under her belt and Aang had completely mastered airbending, but the two Water Tribe siblings were a self-taught warrior and waterbender and so far had only survived because of luck.

Sokka was impatient and reckless. He had numerous holes in his defense and his attacks were almost always easy to read. However, his will was strong and he bore a determination that allowed him to pick himself up and keep going after consecutive failures. He was rather creative and resourceful, and Xena was sure that he could become quite the warrior with some training.

As for Katara. The waterbender had much the same strength of will and determination as her brother. She strove to learn waterbending in a way that even managed to impress Xena. She might not have been able to learn any techniques while she was growing up, but she had obviously spent a long time trying to learn how to keep steady control of water and how to quickly change it from water to ice and back again. According to the story of how the two of them found Aang and Xena, Katara was also quite powerful though that power tended to show up more when she was angry. She also had absolutely no knowledge about healing with water it seemed and she lacked physical stamina.

There was one other thing that Xena had noticed about both siblings and that was the fact that they relied too much on their weapons and waterbending.

She stood and jumped down from the boulder. The sky was just beginning to lighten with the coming dawn and she had no regrets when she gently kicked Sokka awake before shaking Katara awake.

"Ow! Xena, what the hell was that for!?" Sokka complained loudly as he glared at her from his sleeping bag.

"Time to get up," She responded as Katara sat up sleepily.

"The sun's not even up yet."

"Up," Xena ordered, sliding her swords on. "Now."

The older boy started to refuse but thought better of it when she narrowed her eyes at him. With much irritable grumbling, he crawled out of his smelly sleeping bag and pulled on his boots.

"Aren't you going to wake Aang?" Katara asked curiously, voice still raspy from sleep.

"No," She answered and then stopped Sokka in the process of putting his club on his back. "No weapons. Katara, I'd like you to leave your water pouch behind as well."

"What? Why not?"

"You aren't going to need them for what we're about to do."

The two siblings exchanged confused glances, realizing that Xena hadn't woken them simply to get an early start on the day. Katara was the first one to stand and approach her.

"Xena, is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine," She answered and then glanced both of them over. "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what," Sokka demanded exasperatedly.

"Good, then follow me." She had barely finished speaking before she turned on her heels and strode off into the forest. "And try to keep up."

Irritated, but curious they followed her into the forest. Once Xena was sure that they were following her, she sped up into a jog.

"Wait up, Xena," One of the siblings called after her but she paid them no mind as she steadily increased her pace.

She led them in a wide circle around the camp, avoiding most of the tougher terrain. When the siblings began to flag behind, she gradually decreased her speed until coming to a complete stop. Katara and Sokka staggered to a stop a few feet behind her, both sweating and out of breath - Katara more so than her brother.

"Wha-what's your . . . problem?" Sokka demanded as he put a hand on his sister's shoulder in concern.

"You're slow," Xena answered as she crossed her arms. "And Katara lacks stamina. We'll be running like this every morning from now on until I'm satisfied."

"You're not serious," Sokka gaped at her.

"I am," She replied. "Be grateful, I don't usually offer to train people."

"Train us in what?"

"Waterbending?" Katara asked hopefully, starting to recover her breath.

The older girl shook her head. "Hand-to-hand combat. I've noticed that the two of you have a bad habit of relying solely on just your weapons and bending. Should you lose the ability to use either of those - a likelihood with how inexperienced you are - then you should be able to at least have another way to fight."

"How can someone lose the ability to waterbend?" Sokka asked curiously. "There's not an ability that can do that, is there?"

"There is actually a technique that can be used to temporarily stop a person's ability to bend. However, only a handful of people - myself included - know this technique so it is far more likely that Katara will run into a situation where there is no water around for her to bend."

"I suppose that makes sense," Katara said unsurely.

"So then why hand-to-hand combat and not a weapon?"

"Weapons can be taken, but as long as you're still in possession of your limbs you are never unarmed." She suddenly jabbed the air to demonstrate her point, startling Sokka when her closed fist stopped a few inches from his face. "You two have similar builds to me, so it should be fairly easy for me to adapt my fighting styles to fit you."

Xena tilted her head to the side suddenly. "Aang's awake."

"How do you know?" Sokka asked as he and Katara began to follow the oldest girl back to the game. Xena turned her head back to look at him, eyes flashing silver in response. "Oh, right."

lxxxXXXxxxl

"Everything hurts," Sokka complained two days later, arms draped limply over the rim of Appa's saddle and head hanging. "Why do you have to punch so hard?"

Xena's answer was stated matter-of-factly as she petted a sleeping Momo. "If you don't like being hit, then don't _let_ me hit you."

She had started training him that morning while Katara completed the morning run alone as he already possessed the stamina and speed that his sister lacked.

"That sounds like something that Temari would say," Aang remarked and Xena nodded her head.

"That's because it is. It's how she motivated me to get better."

Xena had not approved of the training style Temari employed at first as it felt so similar to how her father had trained her. It was only after the two girls had a serious heart to heart that Xena was able to tell the difference between her father's abuse and Temari's valuable lesson. She carried those differences over into her own lessons with Sokka, never striking the boy harder than he could handle and most certainly never hitting him when he was down. The pain of her hits would help teach the boy not only how to keep his guard up, but also teach him that the best offense was a good defense.

There was a moment of silence following her statement before Katara broke it with a change of subject.

"Have you ever wondered what clouds are made?" She asked curiously as she lay with her arms folded over the rim of the saddle. "They look so soft like you could jump down and you'd land in a big, soft, cottony heap."

"Maybe you should give it a try," Sokka joked.

"You're hilarious," Katara replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I'll try it," Aang said excitedly, grabbing his glider before diving off Appa.

Xena stretched out her legs, unconcerned by the monk's reckless behavior as she spoke. "Clouds are actually made of condensed water vapor. If you get close enough to one you could actually bend them, Katara."

Aang landed in the saddle, clothes damp from his fall through the clouds. He airbent himself dry as Katara turned her head to look at Xena curiously.

"Are you speaking from experience?"

"Of course not. It's just some knowledge that I picked up at the Air Temple when I sat in on one of the airbenders lessons. If I remember correctly, you fell asleep that day, Aang."

The young boy shrugged and rubbed at his nose. "I couldn't help it. Those lessons were so boring."

"It's a miracle you even earned your tattoos," Xena replied deadpan.

Sokka suddenly decided to join the conversation. "I'd been meaning to ask about that. How did you become a master airbender at such a young age?"

Aang perched on the edge of the saddle as he answered. "Well, I picked up the airbending techniques so fast, that all the lessons became boring for me. So I used to sneak away from them to play with the lemurs."

"You mean to _catch_ the lemurs," Xena corrected, holding up Momo as an example. "Of course, the lemurs were too fast for you."

"Which is why I ended up making my own airbending technique called the air scooter and the monks were so amazed by my awesomeness that they decided I had earned my tattoos then and there."

Xena snorted and smiled affectionately at the airbender. "Actually, he had to petition the council over five times before they would officially recognize the move as a new technique. In the end, they only accepted it because Monk Gyatso helped Aang by giving his technique an actual use outside of catching lemurs."

Aang chuckled sheepishly and opened his mouth to respond only to be cut off by Katara as she looked over the edge of the saddle.

"What is that?"

They all moved to look down at the ground and Xena's jaw clenched. Below them where there should have been bright green foliage of trees all there was, was a swath of burned and scorched ground.

"It's like a scar," Sokka muttered beside her.

Aang tugged on Appa's reins, guiding the sky bison to the ground. Ash puffed up beneath his large feet and stained his white fur almost immediately. They dropped down from Appa's back - Sokka's descent a little slow - and wandered a short distance away as they looked around.

"Listen. . . There's no life anywhere," Katara said quietly.

"Aang, are you okay," Xena asked her charge. She already knew through their bond that he wasn't, but felt the need to ask anyways.

"No."

"Fire Nation!" Sokka's shout nearly drowned out the younger boy's quiet response. "Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for-"

Katara shushed her brother and Xena shot him a glare as Aang visibly wilted. He sank down to sit down on the ash covered ground and Xena crouched down beside him to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Why would anyone do this?" Before they could answer his first question, he asked, "How could I have let this happen?"

"Aang, you had nothing to do with this. It has nothing to do with you," Katara insisted in hopes of comforting the distraught boy.

"She's right, Aang. We didn't burn down the forest. The Fire Nation did," Xena backed her up, squeezing his shoulder.

"Yes, it is," He insisted. "The Avatar's job is to protect nature, but I don't even know how to do my job."

"Aang, you didn't know that they were going to burn this forest down. No one expects you to be able to stop something that you didn't even know about."

"And as for not knowing how to do your job, that's why we're going to the North Pole, isn't it? So you can find a teacher and learn."

"They can teach me about waterbending, but there's no one around to teach me how to be the Avatar!" The boy protested.

Xena waved Katara off before she could respond, knowing that Aang just needed a few minutes. The other girl nodded in understanding before wandering away, leaving the two time-misplaced teens to themselves. The pacifist monk and warrior sat in near silence for several minutes, plagued by guilt and concern respectively.

"Hey?" Katara said behind them, coming back. "Ready to be cheered up yet."

"No," Aang replied dejectedly without turning to look at her only to jump when Xena let out a startled sound and an acorn landed in his lap.

"What the heck, Katara?" Xena demanded of the girl who had hit her in the shoulder with that acorn.

"Sorry, I was trying to hit Aang, not you."

"How is that supposed to cheer him up?"

"Because these acorns are everywhere," She answered and walked over to them as she looked at Aang. "That means the forest will grow back. It might take awhile, but every one of these will be a strong oak some day, and all the animals that lived here will come back."

Aang picked up the acorn in his lap and stared at it for a few minutes before closing his hand around it. "Thanks, Katara."

Xena dipped her head to Katara in thanks before standing up and brushing ash from her clothes. She offered a hand to pull Aang to his feet only to freeze and spin on her heel, drawing Smoke with a rasp of steel.

"Someone's coming."

Neither questioned her despite the obvious curiosity in Katara's eyes. Sensing Aang through her bond as his Guardian was one thing, but that did not explain how Xena could sense someone else. Sokka quickly moved to their side when he saw Xena's drawn weapon.

A tall slightly hunched figure stepped out of the tree line at the edge of the burnt patch of land and paused for a moment when he saw them before he began shuffling slowly through the ash towards him.

"Halt!" Xena demanded when the man was only a few feet away. "Who are you?"

The old man paused and looked straight at Aang. "When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible, but those markings . . . Are you the Avatar, child?"

Xena narrowed her gaze suspiciously as Aang glanced towards her and the siblings before nodding his head.

"My village desperately needs your help."

lxxxXXXxxxl

As soon as Xena sees the state of the village, her first thought is to check for any scorch marks. Seeing none, she walks over to one of the ruined buildings and frowns.

"What happened here?" Katara asked as the old men went to retrieve the other villagers.

"It's the Fire Nation obviously," Sokka said with a scowl.

"No," Xena corrected. "Nothing here is burnt, but there is something strange about this destruction. This house has obviously been crushed as if by a catapult, but there's nothing in the rubble that's even remotely large enough to be used as a projectile. And there's that building over there." She gestured to a building that had a large hole punched through it. "Look at how perfectly circular that hole is. Nothing in the natural world could do something like that."

"You are quite right," The old man said, returning to them with a mass of skittish looking villagers behind him. "This was done by a spirit."

"For the past few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village," Another villager added.

"He is Hei Bai, the black and white spirit of the forest."

"Why is is attacking you?" Sokka asked before Xena could.

"We do not know," He answers and then looks up at the sun as if checking the time. "But each of the last three nights, he has abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near."

"What happens then?" Katara asked curiously.

"The veil between our world and the spirit world thins, allowing spirits to cross over into our world easier and allowing humans to occasionally wander into the spirit world," Xena answered.

"Hei Bai is already causing devastation and destruction. Once the solstice is here, there is no telling what will happen."

"And I'm guessing you want Aang to speak with the spirit since as the Avatar, he is the bridge between their world and ours?"

"That's right."

Aang who had been unusually quiet shifted nervously behind Xena. The Guardian bowed her head politely to the villagers. "Please excuse us for a minute."

Sokka and Katara followed Xena and Aang a few steps away from the villagers where the huddled together to discuss the situation.

"So what do we do?" Sokka asked.

"These villagers obviously need our help, we should do what we can to help," Katara replied determinedly.

Xena set a comforting hand on Aang's shoulders. "They don't need our help. They need Aang's help. Which means it's up to him if we help or not."

"I-" Aang's voice cracked. "I want to help, but . . . I don't know anything about the spirit world besides what I learned from the monks through stories and legends."

"It's okay, Aang," Xena soothed the anxious boy. "We don't expect you to know everything."

"There's no one around to teach me this stuff! How am I supposed to be the Avatar if I don't know what I'm doing? What if I mess up?"

"Everyone makes mistakes and I'm sorry to say, Aang, but you're going to make a lot of mistakes especially as the Avatar. As long as you learn from those mistakes, everything will be alright, okay?" He nodded. "Now. Do you want to try and help these people?"

"Yes," He said, face setting into a determined expression.

"I think you can do it, Aang," Katara says with a smile.

"Yeah… We're all gonna get eaten by a spirit monster," Sokka practically cheered.

Aang hunched his shoulders and Xena shot the older boy a withering glare using their close proximity to elbow him in the ribs.

"Ow! Are you _trying_ to give my bruises, bruises?"

lxxxXXXxxxl

Xena stood by the window as she watched Aang walk out of the town hall by himself. Aang had asked her to stay back and make sure everyone else was safe despite her misgivings.

"It's not like you'd stand a chance against a spirit anyways," Sokka said from beside her, provoking an irritated huff and grumble from Xena.

"I bet I could take it."

She hadn't thought anyone had heard, but the quiet, amused snort from Katara told her otherwise.

"Hello? Spirit? Can you hear me? This is the Avatar speaking. I'm here to try and help stuff!" Aang called out into the silence of the town.

"I don't like this."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. You're worse than my brother," Katara complained weakly without taking her gaze of Aang.

"Well, Spirit. . . I uh . . . I hereby ask you to please leave this village in peace!" Aang said unsurely and then added to the end, " Thank you."

"This is our Avatar," One of the villagers said behind her.

Xena straightened. "He's only twelve, cut him so slack. Besides, I don't see any of you out there trying to talk to a spirit."

No one said anything else and the ensuing silence was broken by an almighty crash from outside. Xena's clasped the hilts of her swords in a white-knuckled grip. She jumped as something suddenly latched onto her arm. A sideways glance showed that it was Katara.

"He'll be fine," She repeated what Katara had told her as there was another crash followed by a high pitch sound and a brilliant flash of white light.

"Just fine," She says again as she listens intently to the sounds of destruction and Aang's shouts.

"I'm going to go help him," Sokka suddenly declared and rushed towards the door.

"Wait," She shouted and lunged forward in an attempt to grab him before he was out of reach.

Katara's grip on her arm slowed her and the tip of her fingers just barely brushed the back of his shirt before he was out the door.

"Damn it! Katara, let go."

She rushes to the door and stops short seeing the black and white spirit taking off with a screaming Sokka in his grasp and Aang in pursuit on his glider.

"Sokka!"

"Katara, no," The older girl caught the waterbender around the waist and pulled her back before she could go chasing after them. She quickly spun them around and pushed Katara back towards the villagers. "Katara. Katara, listen to me! I need you to stay here with the villagers. I'll go after them, but I need you to promise me that you'll stay here and make sure everyone stays in this building until the sun rises."

The girl doesn't respond until Xena gives her a gentle shake. "I promise."

With that confirmation, Xena doesn't waste any time. Her feet practically fly across the ground as she dashes into the darkened forest. Sensing the heat around her helps give her a better sense of what's around her to avoid running into anything that would slow her down. Her eyes gleam silver, slightly luminous as the energy of the Avatar helps to give her a boost. Suddenly the energy flow flickers and she staggers, foot catching on the root of a tree and bringing her down in a tumble that ends with the impact of her ribs against a sturdy tree.

She picked herself up and continued on her way until she came across a small forest clearing with a tall statue of a giant bear. Aang lies at its paws unconscious with his glider still in hand. Slowly the warrior sinks to her knees beside him and rests her hand against his still chest to confirm what their bond already tells her. His heart beats slowly beneath her palm.

Aang was in the Spirit World.

lxxxXXXxxxl

The sun had already risen by the time Xena returned to the village with a limp Aang cradled in her arms. Katara was standing next to Appa at the gate and looked up eagerly when she noticed the other girl. Her blue eyes widened in horror when she saw the unconscious monk and she quickly rushed over.

"He's not…" She couldn't even bring herself to finish the sentence.

"He's not dead, his spirit is just in the Spirit World."

"Oh, thank the spirits."

"I'd rather not, seeing as they're the reason we're in this mess in the first place."

"Was that a joke?"

"It was a statement, but I suppose you can take it as a joke if you want."

Villagers paused in their task of sifting through the rubble of last night's destroyed building to stare in shock and horror at the Guardian as she walked through the village. Seeing their concern, she paused.

"Fear not. The Avatar is still doing his duty to bring back home those who were taken from you. He has entered the Spirit World in pursuit of the spirit Hei Bai and rest assured that when his spirit returns, so too shall your people."

It was enough to put them at ease and Xena marched again towards the Town Hall with Katara in tow. The waterbender quickly opened the doors for Xena before rushing back outside to retrieve a bedroll from Appa's saddle. Once he was settled, his Guardian took up a vigilant pose at his side, to watch over him while he traveled through the Spirit World.

"What now?" Katara asked.

"Now we wait," the older girl answered and then winced as she shifted her weight.

"Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine."

"I didn't ask how you'd be in the future, Xena. I asked if you were alright now." Xena blinked dumbly. "Don't give me that look. There's a difference between 'I'm fine' and "I'll be fine' and I've already figured out that you take full advantage of that distinction, so you don't have to lie."

Xena blinked again and then sighed. "How is it that people figure me out so quickly?"

"Mysterious doesn't suit you. Now answer my question."

A small smile. "Took a bit of a tumble when I was chasing after them. Bruised my ribs and knees pretty good, but it's nothing I can't live with."

"I could probably find some ointment if you want."

"What I want is for you to get some rest. You've been up a full twenty-four hours. You need to sleep."

"What about you? You've been awake for the same amount of time as I have."

Xena shook her head. "I don't need a lot of sleep to function properly and I need to keep an eye on Aang."

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure. Get some sleep."

lxxxXXXxxxl

" _Xena, I lost him."_

The guardian blinked tiredly at the blanket covered monk lying fast asleep beside for a moment. Another blink and she turned her head to the right. Her violent flinch and startled yelp brought an equally startled scream from the blue semi-transport figure of Aang. Katara groaned in her sleep but didn't wake up.

"By the spirits, Aang. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

" _Sorry."_

"It's fine." Xena tilted her head. " Wait, what are you doing back?"

" _I- I lost them. I was chasing them and then suddenly Hei Bai went back to the Spirit World. I looked around the forest for a few minutes just in case, but they're both gone."_

"You mean to tell me that the entire time that I thought you were in the Spirit World, you were just in the forest." She narrowed her eyes in dawning realization. "Aang, are you even aware that you're a spirit right now?"

The spirit of Aang tilted his head. " _What are you talking about? I'm not a spirit._ "

Xena groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose with a tired sigh before she waved her other hand right through the boy's legs.

" _Woah! That felt weird."_ A pause. " _I'm in the Spirit World!"_

"Not quite. You've managed to leave your body," here she gestured to said body, "but you haven't actually entered the Spirit World yet."

The boy examined his hands for a moment. " _I guess that explains why none of the villagers even looked at me when I came back. What am I supposed to do now?"_

"I'd suggest figuring out how to get into the Spirit World so you can find Sokka."

" _How do I do that?"_

"I don't know."

Aang slumped to the ground beside Xena with a sigh. " _I wish I could talk to Avatar Roku."_

No sooner had he said that then the nearby window lit up with a bright blue light. Both Xena and spirit Aang jumped to their feet, the later brandishing his glider.

An orb of light flew through the window and took the form. Against all conceivable logic, a spirit of a large dragon curled the entirety of its body against the walls of the small room so that its head hung over the two. Aang let out a strangled cry of fear and swung his staff down to airbend. Xena reached out as if to stop its descent, but it passed straight through her hand without creating even a slight breeze.

"I can't bend."

"You don't need to," Xena answered and held out her hand to hover an inch away from the dragon's snout. "You wanted to talk to Avatar Roku. Well, this would be his dragon, Fang. It's been awhile since I've last seen him."

"Wait, you know Roku's dragon."

"Mhmm. The last time I saw him in a physical body was when I was three I think, but after he died, he used to show up in spirit form from time to time when I was still living in the North."

The dragon snorted softly and Xena's palm tingled. She dropped it back to her side and looked into the dragon's large gentle eyes. "Our friend is missing, Fang. Is there some way that Aang can talk to Roku for advice on how to find him."

The dragon blinked and then lowered its head down beside the two.

" _What is he doing?"_ Aang asked, shuffling closer to his guardian.

"My guess, offering to take you to Roku and if we have any hope of Sokka coming back to us, then you need to accept that offer."

Aang gulped, but nodded his head and stepped forward to mount right behind the dragon's head. " _I guess I'll be back later then."_

"Go. I'll watch over your body and Katara until you return."

The dragon whipped its body around to go back through the window it had appeared from and Xena couldn't help shuddering as Fang's spirit briefly passed through her.

"Xena, who are you talking to?" Katara mumbled sleepily, barely awake.

"No one. Go back to sleep."

Katara mutters an agreement and rolls back over, dragging her blanket over her head. Before she can drift back to sleep through, the village elder suddenly runs into the room with an alarmed shout.

"The Fire Nation is on their way here."

Katara jolted into a sitting position as Xena let out a tired sigh. The two girls exchanged a glance and the elder of the two straightened her back and tugged at the straps where they crossed each other.

"Here we go again," She declared and then turned to the elder. "Tell everyone to drop whatever they're doing and come here."

"What's the plan?" Katara asked as the man hurried to do as she ordered.

"The plan is to keep Aang and the villagers safe."

"That's not much of a plan."

Xena shrugged. "I'll figure it out as I go."

She stooped to pick Aang up and with Katara in tow, headed farther into the building to a smaller room. She set the monk down in the corner of the room before directing the rest of the villagers to enter as well. It was a bit packed and more than a few complained about it, but Xena silenced them with a sharp look.

"If we left, we might be able to convince the soldiers to follow us away from the village," Katara suggested quietly.

"That's true, but we can't move Aang from the village until his spirit is back. Not only that but there's no guarantee that the soldiers are even here for us. We could leave, but that would leave all these people defenseless."

Katara glanced at the villagers and kept her voice low. "We can't protect these people by ourselves."

"I can-"

"No, not even you could fight all those soldiers off. You're skilled Xena, but you can't be everywhere at once."

She grit her teeth clenched her hands into fists. Katara was right as skilled as Xena was there was no way she could protect all these people if it came to a fight, even with Katara's help. She could try to convince the villagers to leave, but seeing as they refused to leave when a spirit monster was attacking their village it wasn't likely they'd leave for the Fire Nation. The only feasible option remaining was to try and lead the soldiers away by leaving. Xena looked over at her young charge with a frown. Her eyes flashed and she nodded to herself before turning back to Katara.

"You're right. I can't be everywhere at once, but maybe I just have to be in the right place."

lxxxXXXxxxl

Amber eyes narrowed as the Avatar's bison flew overhead. Pulling on the reins of his komodo rhino, the Fire Nation Prince redirected his men to follow after the beast. There was a rather painful moment as his men tried to turn their mounts around through the closely packed trees, but as soon as they had they were off.

lxxxXXXxxxl

Appa circled in the air for a moment before landing in the ash at the farthest edge of the burnt section of the forest with a thump. His passenger shifted atop his head before surveying the opposite treeline diligently. The bison found this slow flight to be a bit dull and meaningless without his young furless human and he didn't like the way the ash stuck to his fur and in between his toes.

After a few minutes when nothing happened, he sat and then slapped his tail on the ground in annoyance at the feel of the ash, raising a cloud of it thoughtlessly. The female human who had shifted to keep her balance when he sat began to sneeze and cough with an irritated call of his name. Appa's own nose began to tickle from the ash in the air and he sneezed hard, raising more ash and the harsh snap of his head knocking the human off balance. She caught one of his horns before she fell and covered her nose and mouth with her free clawless paw as she waited out the bison's sneezing. When the sneezing fit passed, the human moved back into a comfortable position atop Appa's head as he licked his nose.

"I think we're both going to need a bath after this," the human said and even though Appa couldn't understand the words he found the sound of her voice pleasant. It was higher pitched than his human's voice was, but not as higher pitched as the other female's was. There was also a slight rasp to it.

Appa had a fondness for this female human. She loved his human almost as much as he did and the bison knew that she would do whatever it took to keep him safe. For this very reason, she was also prone to injury. She wasn't as loud as his human or most other humans he met and she was a bit cold and prickly, but she was attentive and spoke to him quite frequently when it was just the two of them. If Appa did not already have a human, he would have been tempted to adopt this one. Perhaps he still could. The furless youth could be his primary human and this quiet female could be his secondary.

"Get ready, boy. Here they come."

As his secondary human, he'd have to make sure she stayed out of trouble. Especially, any trouble where that scarred spicy-smelling heat-wielder was involved.

lxxxXXXxxxl

Xena slid off Appa's head and dusted the soot from her vest as the Fire Nation soldiers led by Prince Zuko appeared from the tree line. Here she could confront the soldiers without worrying about any civilians while Katara, Aang's body, and the villagers remained safe back in the village. She had chosen this spot in particular due to the flat terrain and as this end of the burnt forest was nearly two hours away from the village by foot.

"Where is the Avatar?!" The Prince demanded as soon as he was close enough, his soldiers spreading out in a half circle around Xena and Appa.

"Not here and if you think I'm going to tell you where he is you'd be sadly mistaken." She made no move to draw her swords and instead brushed her bangs aside to reveal the crescent moon on her brow before folding her arms across her chest.

"Where is he?"

Xena narrowed her eyes at him. "I just told you that I wasn't going to tell you."

"If you tell won't tell me, then we'll have to do this hard way."

"We could or…" She uncrossed her arms and held her hands to the side with her palms up. "We could play a game."

The soldiers all exchange glances as their prince blinks at the girl dumbfounded before repeating, "a game?"

"That's right, a game." She turned and paced in front of Appa, meeting the gaze of every single one of his soldiers as she did. "See I've beaten most of your soldiers before, most of them at the same time. Fighting them would be too easy. So I propose we play a game of twenty questions. Rules would be that neither of us can lie when answering and you can't ask me where my friends are."

Xena can see the unease in his eyes, but she can see the gears turning as he considers the information he could get from her while wondering what information he would have to part with. "What would you get out of this game?"

Xena smiled. Got him. "I've been trapped in an iceberg for the past century. I've missed quite a lot as you can imagine and lack information about the world I now live in. This game would fill in the blanks for me. That was your first question, by the way, so now it's my turn."

"I haven't even agreed to play yet."

"You agreed to play as soon as you asked your first question instead of ordering your men to attack. Now, my first question." She paused a moment as if to consider. "Why is the Prince of the Fire Nation sailing the waters of the Earth Kingdom in pursuit of the Avatar?"

The way his scowl deepens and his eyes darken inform Xena that her first question hit upon a touchy subject. "I was banished and the only way to return and regain my honor is by capturing the Avatar."

 _Banished? Why? Should that be my next question? No. He might end the game prematurely if I do._ Xena dipped her head in acknowledgment of his answer while waiting for his return question.

He took a moment to think of his next question as well. "What's the Avatar's greatest weakness?"

"I'd have to say the fact that he cares too much about what other people think of him and that he doesn't take criticism well," Xena answered and tried not to smile as she saw the look of irritation pass across the prince's face. "I've already met your uncle, but who else is in your family?"

"My father Ozai and my younger sister Azula. What's the weakness of your other two traveling companions?"

"They're self-taught and lack skill. Where's your uncle?"

"He remained back with my ship. . ." There begins a volley of questions and answers back and forth. While Zuko asks questions about Xena and her friends to find out their weaknesses, she just mainly asks questions about the Fire Nation and how it had changed. When Zuko only has five more questions left and Xena has six, she suddenly changes topics.

"Is it worth it?"

"What?

"The war, is it really worth all this destruction?" She elaborated and spread her arms out wide to bring attention to their surroundings. "Where we're standing used to be full of life. It will grow back in time, but whatever trees will grow here again will never reach the same height as their predecessors in either of our lifetimes. But this is nothing in comparison to what has been done all around the world. Nothing in comparison to the lives lost. An entire nation has been wiped out because of this war."

She doesn't spare him a single second to come up with a response. "When we went back to the Southern Air Temple, I found the skeletons of children murdered in their own beds not even given the chance to even run. Some our age, but most even younger than Aang. I think the youngest was six. I had to bury him and all the other kids by myself because I didn't want Aang to have to see them like that. So tell me, Prince Zuko. . . is this worth it?"

There's a moment of complete silence after that. Xena doesn't move to wipe away the tears running down her face, wanting the prince and his men to see her grief. Most of these men were probably new recruit when the left the Fire Nation and serving under the prince had saved them from viewing the harsher side of the war. Xena refuses to let them hide behind the belief that this war is a just or honorable and she can see the way the waiver. Her truthfulness and her emotions have begun to sow the seeds of doubt in their minds.

"Allow me to answer questions you haven't asked," She finally said, drawing closer to Appa. "I am the Avatar's Guardian, but I am also a sixteen-year-old girl by the name of Xenia. The Avatar is twelve years old and his name is Aang. The two that travel with us are seventeen and fifteen. We're just kids. Try to keep that in mind the next time you hunt us."

She quickly jumped onto Appa's back and urged him skyward with a confident 'yip yip,' leaving the men below to consider everything that she just told them. Once Appa's set on a course back to the village, she wipes her tears away and takes deep breaths to calm herself. Her mission was successful and Aang was now back from the Spirit World. With sunset just an hour away, they would soon be able to get Sokka back and be on their way before the soldiers every made it to the village.

lxxxXXXxxxl

Xena stands slightly behind Aang as they face the forest waiting for the sun to fall completely behind the horizon. She can feel Katara's concerned gaze fixed on her back as well as the stares from the villagers hiding in the town hall behind them. Aang glances back at his stoic guardian for support and a building to their right abruptly exploded in a bright flash of light. Xena knocks aside a chunk of wood with her forearm while putting her body between Aang and the rest of the debris. The spirit stalks out of the forest angrily as the dust begins to settle. Aang runs towards it and despite knowing this is the plan, Xena's heart still skips a beat in concern. The boy uses an airbending enhanced jump to lightly touch Hei Bai on the forehead. The spirit's form flickers and takes on its true form of a panda for a moment before Aang lands back on his feet.

"You're the spirit of this forest, of all forest," Aang says in understanding." Now I understand. You're upset and angry because part of the forest was burned down. When I first saw it, I was sad and upset too, but my friend gave me hope that forest would grow back."

He held an acorn out to the spirit and didn't flinch as it slowly reached down to pluck it from his palm. Hei Bai turned to leave and its form shimmered and changed once more to that of a giant panda. As he walked through the city gate, bamboo shoots sprouted from the ground. A few seconds afterward, Sokka and the missing villagers walk out of the bamboo, pushing the stalks to the side. As far as Xena's concerned, the entire thing is a bit anticlimactic, but there's nothing wrong with that. A day without any fights is something she wishes they could have every day.

"Sokka!" Katara shouted her brother's name and ran to greet him with a hug as the villagers held their own reunion.

"What happened?" The oldest boy asked in confusion, looking towards Xena.

"You were trapped in the spirit world for twenty-four hours," She answered and set a hand on a smiling Aang's shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" Katara asked as she pulled back to hold him at arm's length.

"Like I seriously need to use the bathroom," He answers before running off.

It's only when he returns that the villagers gather in front of them, the elder acting as their spokesman as per usual. "Thank you, Avatar. If there only was a way to repay you for what you and your Guardian have done for us."

Xena blinked, somehow surprised that the villagers would include her in their thanks. Sure she'd let Zuko and his men away, but it wasn't really something she needed thanks for when it was the four teens fault they were in the forest in the first place.

"You could give us some supplies and some money," Sokka suggested, not unwilling to take advantage of the situation.

"Sokka!"

"What? We need stuff."

The elder smiled and bowed. "It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey."

As Sokka started to list off supplies Katara turned to Aang. "I'm so proud of you, Aang. You figured out how to stop Hei Bai all by yourself."

"Actually, I did have a little help," He said and glanced at Xena. "And there's something else I need to talk to you guys about?"

"What is it, Aang?" Xena asked, already sensing from the boy's emotions that she wasn't going to like it.

"I need to contact Roku and I think I've finally found a way I can contact his spirit."

"That's great!" Katara exclaimed before the boy had finished.

" _Creepy_ , but great," Sokka felt the need to add.

"But…" Xena pressed.

"There's a temple on a crescent shaped island, and if I go there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak to Avatar Roku," He paused again. "But there's one problem. That island . . . it's in the Fire Nation."

* * *

Momochan77: **Glad you liked the last chapter. Xena's past plays a big part in who she is, so it'll show up quite frequently.**

Brookie Twiling: **You'll just have to stick around and find out if she has any relatives alive. (Or read my original version of this story, but where's the fun in that.)**

Krystallin: **Thank you for pointing out those mistakes, I'll go back and fix them when I can. I would like to say though that the harshness of your review was quite off-putting and I didn't think it to be very constructive. In the future - whether it be a review on my story or someone else's - may I suggest that you try a less harsh approach by leaving out words like "elementary". I sincerely apologize if my tell instead of show made you feel like a stupid reader as that was not my intention. Showing instead of telling is something I've been trying to work on as I recently noticed that I was doing the later. That all being said I found this to be a valuable review as I don't often get constructive criticism, so thank you.**

 **I may have a Beta reader now. He's one of my friends in real life and if he doesn't own a fanfiction account, if he did it would probably be known as Fuzzy Fire'chu so that's what we'll call him. This chapter was supposed to be a test run to see if he wanted to Beta for me, but unfortunately, he hasn't had the time to look at it and it's already been nearly two weeks. I didn't want to wait any longer to post this, but I'll be sure to update this author's note once he has taken a look at. Also as you've probably noticed, I always respond to reviews in the author notes of the following chapter, so if you want a quicker or private response send me a PM instead.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Keep on being awesome and I'll see you next chapter.**


	8. Race to Roku

**Book One: The Avatar's Guardian (Water)**

 **Chapter Seven: Race to Roku**

* * *

The moon was bright and full where it hovered over the peaks of a mountain range. It was a good omen. Waterbenders were never more powerful than on the night of a full moon. Xena could feel the cool and refreshing boost of power that flowed through her. In some ways, it felt similar to the power she got from the sun and the power she had as Aang's Guardian.

"Let's go, Appa!. Come on!"

She turned her gaze to Aang where he tried to coax Appa to his feet by pulling at his reins, brown eyes flecked with silver the same color as the moon. Appa simply growled in response.

"I'm sorry, but Katara and Sokka aren't coming to the Fire Nation with us. It's too dangerous and I'd never forgive myself if they got hurt," Aang told the bison quietly as he paused in his tugging for a moment. "So get your big butt off the ground and let's go!"

He tugs at the reins so hard that should Appa suddenly give him any slack, he'd fall directly onto his face.

"I think his big butt is trying to tell you something," Sokka suddenly says, drawing Aang's attention to the fact that he has an audience.

"Please don't go," Katara pleads. "The world can't afford to lose you to the Fire Nation. _We_ can't afford to lose you to the Fire Nation."

Aang releases the reins and walks over to stand in front of the Water Tribe siblings. "But I have to talk to Avatar Roku to find out what my vision means. I need to get to the Fire Temple before the sun sets on the solstice."

He jumps onto Appa's head with a boost from his bending. Xena climbs up into the bison's saddle and glanced at the siblings when they jumped to stand in front of Appa.

"We're not letting you two go anywhere," Katara declares firmly.

"Not without us, anyway. We got your back."

Aang beams happily and Momo perches on his shoulder with a chitter. Appa groans and licks Appa, causing the boy to make a long noise of disgust.

"If you're coming with us then get on. It's a long way to the Fire Nation and we need to leave now if we want to get there before sundown," Xena says and offers a hand to pull Katara into the saddle.

While Sokka climbs up by himself, the village elder steps forward from the crowd of watching villagers to hand a wrapped parcel to Aang.

"May Gaea guide your path and grant you a safe journey," He intones and a few of the other repeat the blessing.

"Thank you," Aang says, accepting the package and passing it back to Xena so he can take Appa's reins in hand. "Yip yip."

lxxxXXXxxxl

The sun had fully risen and Aang was in the process of encouraging Appa to fly faster when Xena noticed it. The head start she had created for them with her game with Zuko was gone.

"We have a problem," She warns.

"Yeah, and it's gaining fast!" Sokka adds after turning to look at Zuko's ship which was in clear pursuit of them.

Xena narrows her eyes as she sees activity on the deck below. From this height, it's difficult to make out what's going on, but when she does her eyes widen in surprise.

"Watch out!"

"Fireball!" Katara shouts a few seconds after.

"On it!" Aang yanks on Appa's reins so that the burning projectile passes by harmlessly. Xena's noses wrinkles at the smell and Katara covers her nose.

"We have to get out of Zuko's range before he can shoot another hot stinker at us," The younger girl says.

"Coal tar. Burns hot and slow, but it's not the most pleasant smelling."

"Aang, can you get Appa to fly faster!" Sokka shouts without taking his eyes of Zuko's ship.

"Yeah… about that," Aang says slowly. "There's a blockade."

The three teens spin around to stare in shock at the long line of ships ahead of them. Xena scowls and pushes herself into a standing position in the center of Appa's saddle.

"If we fly north, we can go around the Fire Navy ships and avoid the blockade. It's the only way."

"Then we'll have to make a new way because we don't have time to fly around if we want to get to the temple on time," Xena disagrees, brow furrowed in thought.

" _This is why I didn't want them here. It's too dangerous."_ The thought resounds so loudly through their bond that Xena knows it wasn't intentional.

" _And that's exactly why they_ are _here,"_ She responds mentally and then says aloud. "We're running the blockade.

The monk nodded."Yip-"

"Wait!" Sokka called. "There's a lot more fireballs in that direction are you sure we shouldn't just turn back."

"We can't," Aang answers and Sokka sighs before nodding. "Yip yip."

Appa speeds up at Aang's coaxing. As they approach the blockade a large wave of fireballs are launched at her. Everyone with an exception of Xena screams as Aang once again yanks Appa to the side. One of the fireballs skims Appa's flank, lighting his fur on fire. Xena who had dropped into a crouch to keep from being thrown straightens back up as Katara and Sokka pat out the fire.

"Appa. You okay, buddy?" Aang asks the bison and gets a groan in response.

The monk starts to pull them above the clouds to obscure them from the ship's view.

"Aang, wait!" He pauses and Xena pointed to the waves below. "Take us under."

"Are you insane, Xena?!" Sokka demands behind her. "I don't know about you and Aang, but us normal people can't exactly hold our breath for that long. Not only that, but our supplies will get soaked."

"Under," She tells Aang and turns to Katara as he does what she asks. "Katara, this will be the first and the last waterbending lesson I ever teach you."

Xena then quickly explains the techniques behind trapping air within a bubble of water. The other girl listens intently without any of the excitement that she would have in any other circumstance. In the time it takes her to finish explaining, the Fire Nation had finished reloading and fire at the bison where it skims over the water. Xena quickly pulls water up above them and Katara quickly stands at the opposite end of the saddle and readies herself to help.

"Katara, if you falter for even a second this bubble will break and we will have to surface or risk drowning." Katara hesitated for a second and then Xena offered her an encouraging smile. "That being said, I know you can do it."

Bending takes confidence and Xena's encouragement gives Katara all the confidence she needs to help seal the bubble around them.

"Aang, down!"

"Yes, ma'am,' Aang replies and urges Appa under the waves as the aflame rocks hit the water around them.

Xena and Katara continue to move in tandem shifting the water around them so that only Appa's legs and tail are in the water. The bison moves them forward by swimming while the two waterbenders keep the bubble in place. Xena offers praise and advice to Katara whenever it seems she's about to lose control of the water. There's a gentleness in the way Xena coaches the other girl that is unlike her usual training technique. After they pass beneath the blockade, Aang pulls Appa back up into the sky and allows the two girls to drop the bubble of water.

"We made it!" He cheers as the turn to stare at the blockade behind them.

"We go into the Fire Nation…" Sokka says in disbelief. "Great."

They all ignore the boy's pessimism and a few seconds later Katara suddenly grins. "I did it. I can't believe I actually did it."

"Congratulations, Katara," Aang says cheerfully and Xena gives the girl a nod and a soft smile.

"A little confidence goes a long way," She says, clasping her hands tightly in her lap to hide their trembling.

lxxxXXXxxxl

" _Xena, wait!"_

" _Leave me alone, Drake."_

 _He grabs her arm before she can storm out of the house. "Please just listen to me."_

 _She shakes her head without looking at him. "I already know what you're going to say."_

" _No you don't," He yanks her around to face him. "It's okay that you weren't able to heal him."_

" _No, it's not! Raiden could have died and it would have been my fault. All because I couldn't stop shaking enough to-"_

" _No one blames you."_

" _I blame myself." She pulled away and turns her back to him, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "Am I so broken that I can't even save a friend from dying."_

" _You are not broken," He says and wraps her up in a hug from behind. "You just need some confidence in yourself and your ability."_

" _No!" She once again pushes him away. "If I can't use my bending to save a friend's life then I won't use it at all."_

" _Xe-"_

 _She runs out the door before he can stop her, slamming it shut behind her._

 _. . ._

 _Perched in the branches of a cherry blossom tree, Xena wrapped her arms around her knees and stared miserably down at the pond. She made no movement when the kindly lord of the estate took a seat on the bench beneath the tree with a loaf of bread to feed the baby turtle ducks that flocked around his legs. It wasn't until he began to speak that she tilted her head to listen._

" _My son says you've vowed to never bend again. Quite the strong vow to make for an eleven-year-old to make. Would you like to tell me why?"_

" _I hate it."_

" _Bending?"_

" _Not all bending just my own," She turns her head to look down at him. "I can't even use it to heal. All it does is hurt, people."_

" _I see," He hums and continues to toss pieces of bread. "Tell me, Xenia, if a man stabs another to death, do you blame the man or the knife."_

" _The man of course. A knife's just a tool."_

" _So, then by that logic, can you truly blame your waterbending - which is just as much as a tool as a knife - for the pain it inflicts on another."_

" _You're saying it's my fault I hurt Raiden."_

" _Not at all. I'm saying that your lack of control and confidence is what hurt Raiden." He stands and reaches up to carefully lift her out of the tree. She doesn't resist. "If you wish to never bend again, then that choice is yours to make. However, consider for a moment what might happen if you were to get angry one day and subconsciously bend. It's been known to happen as you very well know. Without control, you could hurt someone far worse than what you did to Raiden."_

 _She shudders. "Then what do I do."_

" _My advice is that you train to regain your confidence and skill with your bending so that you can choose not to bend later on and know for certain you have the control not to hurt someone with subconscious bending. At the same time, you will also have the control to use it when you have to or want to."_

 _She nods. "That seems acceptable."_

" _Acceptable," He repeats and then throws his head back and laughs. "I see that my wife has been teaching you big words again."_

" _Dad. Xena." Xena shrank closer to the man's side as Drake entered the garden, bowing her head. "Raiden's awake."_

" _Is he. . ." Xena trails off as Drake turns his amber gaze on her._

" _He wants to see you," He answers with a smile that immediately sets her at ease._

" _If that's the case, then you shouldn't keep him waiting. I'll see you later for some firebending, Xenia."_

 _Drake watches as his father, the older Lee Jong, leaves before approaching Xena and holding out a hand to her. "Xena?"_

"Xena."

The female warrior blinks sleepily at Aang, having fallen asleep due to the lack of sleep from the past two nights. The sky is orange with the setting sun and the sight of it wakes her up the rest of the way.

"We're here," Aang says, pointing at the temple to her right.

She stifles a yawn before saying, "Then let's not waste any time."

Katara and Sokka are already on the ground, the former rubbing under Appa's chin while the latter was stretching. Xena adjusts the swords on her back before wordlessly starting up the path to the temple with the other three close behind.

"They're aren't any guards," She reports, using her heat vision to scout ahead. The heat from the island threw her off at first, but she quickly adapts.

"The Fire Nation must have abandoned the temple when Avatar Roku died," Katara offers as an explanation.

"I very much doubt it," Xena replies and unsheathes Smoke. "Stay close to me."

"It's almost sundown, we'd better hurry," Aang says.

"We do, but rushing ahead recklessly could result in us walking right into a trap," She answers and pushes open the temple door. "This place isn't abandoned."

"How can you tell?" Sokka asks quietly from the back of their small group, hand hovering over the hilt of his club.

"No dust."

Xena keeps moving farther into the temple as fast as she dares. If not for her caution they would have all been taken by surprise by the five old men dressed in red robes that stepped out into the corridor ahead of them.

"We are the Fire Sages, guardians to the Temple of the Avatar."

"Great! I am the Avatar," Aang declares right away before Xena can stop him.

"We know," The middle most sage replies right before all five attack with blasts of fire.

Xena breaks the flames before it can reach the others.

"Run!" She orders and the siblings do as she asks.

Aang, however, steps past her and swings his staff. A blast of air extinguishes all the candles along the corridor and throwing the elder men off their feet. She grabs the back of his shirt and pushes him in front of her as they take off after Katara and Sokka. When the catch-up, Aang is quick to jump over their heads to take the lead.

"Follow me!"

"Do you even know where you're going?" Sokka demands.

"Nope!" Aang responds and turns a corner.

"I think I preferred when Xena was leading," The elder boy grumbles.

Aang hurtles back around the corner with a shout of, "Wrong way."

He dashes past them and they all quickly reorient themselves to follow after him as one of the sages call out behind them. They skid around the corner, coming to a dead end. Aang shoots them a sheepish glance as the turn back to face the Fire Sage who blocks the end of the corridor. Xena steps forward and draws Frost, preferring to have both swords out when facing an enemy of an unknown skill level.

"I don't want to fight you," He rushes to say, holding his hands up. "I'm a friend."

"Firebenders aren't our friends," Sokka responds and then pauses to rethink his statement. "Xena being the exception."

"Thank you, Sokka," She says dryly.

"You are Guardian Xenia," the sage asks, staring at her with wide eyes.

She answers with a flash of silver eyes. To her shock, he drops to his knees and bows lowly.

"I know why you and your Guardian are here, Avatar."

"You do," Aang asks, moving up to stand behind Xena's shoulder.

"Yes," The sage climbs back to his feet laboriously. "You wish to speak to Avatar Roku. I can take you to him."

Xena narrows her eyes suspiciously, but continues to allow Aang to handle the situation as he asks, "How?"

The sage puts his hand on the nearby wall and lets out a soft burst of fire. The wall slides open like a door, revealing a tunnel beyond. "This way."

"Find them!" The call of another sage echoes loudly in the halls, but Xena can tell that they are closer than she would like them to be.

"Time is running out. Quickly," He urges them, glancing over his shoulder nervously.

" _Your call."_

Aang glances at his protector at her silent thought of support and then nods at the sage. "Lead on."

The sage closes the wall up behind them and Xena makes sure to watch carefully how he does it just in case they are walking into a trap. Her sword remains drawn but relaxed at her side as she places herself between the sage and the other teens. If he notices, he doesn't say anything about it, instead, telling them about the tunnels.

"Avatar Roku once called this temple his home. He formed the secret passages out of the magma."

"Did you know Avatar Roku," Aang asks curiously.

The sage shakes his head before responding. "My grandfather knew him and you, Guardian Xenia. Many generations of Fire Sages guarded this temple long before me. We all have a strong spiritual connection to this place."

"There are no acolytes in training," Xena points out her observations and the elderly man dips his head sadly.

"We are the last of the sages. The Fire Lord drafted all of the acolytes into his army due to their firebending expertise. I'm afraid that with no acolytes remaining, the Fire Sages will end with us."

"If that is the case then why would the other sages attack Aang?" Xena questions

"Things have changed. In the past, the sages were loyal only to the Avatar and then to you as well, Guardian Xenia, once you were born. When Roku died, the sages eagerly awaited for the next Avatar to return while searching for a firebending master to teach his Guardian. They kept tabs on her training up until she left the Fire Nation for the Air Nomads and then they continued to await the Avatar. But he never came."

"They. . . were waiting for me." Aang stops in his track and everyone stops with him.

"Hey, don't feel bad. You're only a hundred years late," Sokka says, oblivious to the impact his words have on the young monk."

Xena glares at him from over Aang's head and the older boy recoils. When Aang turns back to her and the sage, her expression is one of comfort and understanding.

"They lost hope that the Avatar would ever return. When Fire Lord Sozin began the war, my grandfather and the other sages were forced to follow him. I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord. When I learned you were alive and coming here, I knew I would have to betray the other sages."

"Thank you for helping me," Aang says sincerely with a small sad smile.

Xena sheaths her swords without a word and the sage smiles back at them before continued to lead them through the tunnel.

"We'll follow these stairs to the sanctuary. Once you're inside, wait for the light to hit Avatar Roku's statue. Only then, will you be able to speak with him."

The sage opens the door and steps through first to make sure none of the other sages are there. "No!"

Hearing his horrified gasp, they quickly rushed into the room to see him staring at a pair of large ornate doors with the crest of the Fire Nation and pipes that remind Xena of the airlocks on the sanctuary dorms in the Air Temple.

"What's wrong?" Aang asks in confusion.

"The sanctuary doors, they're closed," The sage answers.

"Can't you just open them with firebending?" Sokka asks, examining the lock.

"No. Only a fully realized Avatar is powerful enough to open this door alone. Otherwise, the sages must open the doors together with five simultaneous fire blasts. Unless . . . Guardian Xenia, could you-"

"I am a master firebender just as you are, but I do not possess the talents that the Avatar does."

"But what about the Guardian State."

"They actually named- No, it only grants me energy and strength."

"Wait, is the Guardian State that thing where your eyes turn silver?" Katara suddenly interrupts.

"I'm not sure it matters at this moment, but I assume so. Although, I wasn't aware it had been given a name," She answers.

"So, you said this just took five fire blast to open, right?" Sokka asks.

"That's right."

"Then I think I can help you out."

Xena pinches the bridge of her nose. "Sokka, the last time I checked you were neither a firebender or the Avatar."

"No, but I am a genius. Check this out." He pulls out several small sacks and grabbed a lantern from the wall. "This is a little trick I picked up from my father. I seal lamp oil inside an animal skin casing. We light oil soaked twine and tada! Fake firebending."

Xena lifts one of the oil filled sacks thoughtfully. "This could work."

"You've really outdone yourself this time," Katara praises her brother, who puffs out his chest in response.

"You do realize that if this fails, it will give away our location."

Sokka's shoulders drop. "You're more of a cynic than I am."

"I am glad you recognize your own cynicism; however, I must correct you. I'm a realist, not a cynic." She places the first sack in the mouth of a pipe and the others grab a different sack to copy her.

"Is there a difference," Katara asks curiously.

"There is, but this is neither the time nor the place to have this discussion.

Sokka fusses over the positions of the sacks until Xena orders him behind a pillar along with Aang and Katara. She turns to face their newest ally only to freeze at the expression on his face as he stares at her.

"What?"

"You are very different then what we sages were taught. We were led to believe that you were - to put it simply - nothing more than brawn that protected the Avatar. But you, Guardian Xenia, are far more intelligent and wise than we were led to believe."

"Wisdom comes from experience, particularly of the negative variety," She replies. "And please call me Xenia. I am not overly fond of my title."

"In that case, you may call me Shyu."

Xena bows her head before asking, "Then Shyu would you mind doing the honor?"

"Gladly."

Shyu lights the twine with a thin controlled stream of fire. She quickly, but gently, pulls him behind a nearby pillar before Sokka's homemade bombs go off. Small, but powerful the bomb shakes the room with a loud boom. A haze of smoke fills the chamber and Aang rushes out to pull on the handles.

"It didn't work. They're still locked," He reports when the door refuses to budge.

"Oh no," Shyu gasps in horror.

Aang bows his head in despair for a moment the raises it again to glare at the door. With a slash of his arms, he begins to throw large gusts of air at the doors. "Why won't it open?!"

Xena reaches out to grasp his shoulder and pulls him away. "Stop. There's nothing more than we can do."

He hangs his head and turns to face Katara and Sokka. "I'm sorry I put you through all of this for nothing."

"Better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all," Shyu says wisely.

"I don't get it," Sokka says suddenly as he inspects the sooty pipes. "That blast looked as strong as any firebending I've ever seen."

"Then you haven't seen very much firebending."

"Sokka, you really are a genius!" Katara exclaims.

"How? His plan didn't work," Aang points out.

"But it looks like it did."

"Did the definition of 'genius' change in the last hundred years?"

"Were you aware that you two have the same exact expression when you've come up with a crazy plan?" Xena says, noting the gleam in Katara's eyes.

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" _Xena, you hide there. Tanvi, climb up onto the roof above that window. Kaori, Temari, get those water buckets ready. Drake, you're with me."_

" _Raiden, you know we're all going to get in trouble for this, right?_

" _Not if the twins say it's a part of Xena's training. Learning how to ambush someone is a valid skill for her to know after all."_

" _Come on, Kaori. Just think of the pies."_

Xena never thought what had once been a child's game of stealing pies from the Jong family's cook would teach her skills that would ever be useful outside their game. She watches from behind a pillar as Shyu lures his fellow sages into their ambush.

"Hurry! The Avatar has entered the sanctuary."

"How did he get in?" The lead sage demands.

"I don't know. But look at the scorch marks and down there!" Shyu points to the bottom of the door where a shadow can be seen moving about.

"He's inside. Open the doors immediately before he makes contact with Avatar Roku."

She glances across the room to where the siblings are hiding behind their own pillar as Shyu and the other four sages line up in front of the door to shoot fire blasts into the lock. The doors slowly open with a creak, revealing a sitting Momo. The lemur looks at the sages quizzically and sneezes.

"It's the Avatar's lemur! He must have crawled through the pipes. We've been tricked."

"Looking for someone!" Xena calls as she steps into view.

With their attention on her, they don't notice Katara and Sokka bursting from their hiding places until it's too late. The siblings each grab a sage and restrain them. Shyu grabs the lead sage while Xena surges forward to put the final sage into a choke hold.

"Now, Aang."

"Go, Avatar, before it's too late."

With the four sages incapacitated there is nothing stopping Aang from getting into the sanctuary.

"The Avatar is coming with me."

Except for Zuko. The Fire Nation Prince drags the young monk out into the open, his arms held behind his back. After that, several things happen at once. Xena's grip loosens in surprise, her captive's elbow jabs into her bruised ribs and drives the breath from her body, and the other three sages reverse their positions so that Shyu and the siblings are now the captive ones. Zuko pulls Aang back towards the entrance to Roku's tunnels.

"Close the doors. Quickly."

For such an old man, the sage Xena is fighting is surprisingly strong and has no qualms about taking advantage of her current weakness. He manages to land several blows on her ribs, but it will take more than a few hits to bring her down. His assault does keep her from going after Zuko or rushing to the aid of her allies as the other Fire Sages chain them to a pillar. She's not sure how he does it, but Aang manages to free himself only to hesitate when faced with the choice to either help his friends or go through the slowly closing door.

"Go!" Xena and Katara shout together.

He does as ordered, sailing through the doors just before they close and the lock clicks. A bright flash of white light seeps out from behind the door. The other sages join the assault against her shortly after. Too busy defending herself, she has no time to draw her swords and comes to the realization as she avoids a blast of fire that she has no choice but to use her bending.

She isn't given the chance to. Zuko joins the fray and lands a stunning fire-filled blow on her cheek, splitting and burning her skin. Dazed and partially blinded in one eye from his assault, she is unable to put up a fight as the sages chain her to a pillar by herself.

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He has never seen the Avatar's Guardian so disheveled before. Her clothes are burnt and covered in soot, the laces on her vest loose. Her long black hair is coming undone from her braid and her pale skin is as dirty as her clothes are. The bright red blood that trickles down her burnt cheek stands out vividly in comparison to the silver crescent moon on her brow and the brilliant blue tattoo on the opposite side of her face. The tattoo starts at her forehead and curved down around her left eye to end at her cheekbone. She is slumped slightly in her chains, muscles trembling, and obviously in pain. However, when she shakes off her daze, her one good eye fixes on him and her expression twists into one of rage. Her strength of will and dedication to the Avatar is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Even injured and chained, she still seems unbeatable. Her will unbreakable.

" _The immovable object and the unstoppable force,"_ his uncle had said when Zuko expressed something similar after one of their earlier confrontations with the Avatar's group, " _She is not, Prince Zuko. She has great power, but she is as human as you or I. So do not be discouraged, there is still a chance you could beat her and capture the Avatar."_

With those words in mind, he turns to face the door to the sanctuary. The four sages still loyal to his father take up positions next to him and together they blast fire into the pipes that will unlock the door. Nothing happens and the door remains completely sealed.

"Why isn't it working? It's sealed shut!" He demands.

"It must have been that light. Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside."

Hands clenched into fists, Zuko turns on the traitorous Fire Sage. "Why did you help the Avatar?"

"Because it was once the sages' duty. It is still our duty," Shyu replies evenly, showing much courage in the face of his nation's prince.

Suddenly the sound of slow clapping fills the chamber and Zuko turns slowly.

"What a moving and heartfelt performance. I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him." The man with his pompous sideburns and attitude is one that Zuko is familiar with.

"Commander Zhao," the lead sage greets with a bow.

"And Prince Zuko, it was a noble effort. But your little smoke screen didn't work. Two traitor in one day, the Fire Lord will be pleased," Commander Zhao says as one of his soldiers steps forward to grab Zuko.

"You're too late, Zhao. The Avatar is inside and the doors are sealed," Zuko replies. Oh, how he hates this man.

"No matter. Sooner or later, the Avatar will have to come out and when he does we'll be ready for him."

There's a loud rattle of chains following Zhao's statement. Zhao and Zuko break out of their staring contest at the sound, attention drawn to the Avatar's Guardian. Zuko had seen her angry and furious before, but this was the first time he had ever seen this expression. She was downright murderous and had she been free Zuko had no doubt that she would have killed Zhao without a second thought.

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Narcissistic. It's a word that fits this new enemy perfectly along with arrogant and sadistic. He is a man that revels in causing pain to others and there is no way that Xena is going to let him succeed at capturing Aang. She would rather let Zuko capture him than this . . . this Commander Zhao. She strains against the chains holding her uselessly as Zhao orders his men to spread out in front of the doors. If she could just free her hands.

" _Patience."_

The word drifts through her bond with Aang and she freezes. That was not Aang, the mental voice carried to much weight to be from him. There was only one person it could belong to.

"Roku," She breaths quietly.

" _All will be well, child."_

She relaxes against the chains with a soft exhale. Reining in her anger, she looks over to see Prince Zuko watching her curiously from where he is chained up as well. She meets his gaze evenly and then returns her attention to Zhao and the sanctuary. Light begins to seep out from the door seams, growing brighter and brighter with every passing second. Xena winces as it becomes almost blinding and tilts her head to the side. While unable to see the door, she can hear when it begins to slowly open. The light fades as the doors finish opening. The inside of the sanctuary is pitch black save for two glowing eyes. Xena can feel the power of the Avatar State flowing through her bond with Aang. This is the second time she has felt it and never has it felt this controlled.

"No! Aang!" Katara shouts over the rattling of her chains.

"Fire!" Zhao commands his soldiers.

The Fire Nation soldiers' fire blasts stop at the door, combining into a huge ball of swirling flames. The fireball shifts, revealing the tall figure of Avatar Roku with his glowing eyes.

"Avatar Roku!"

Roku draws the fire towards himself before blasting it outward. The fire moves in an arc, knocking the soldiers to the ground and then melting the chains holding the five captive. Xena staggers forward and then stares at Roku as his entire body begins to glow the same pale blue as his eyes. He turns his gaze to the four Fire Sages and they are quick to flee the room.

"Avatar Roku's going to destroy the temple! We have to leave now!" Shyu shouts and Xena starts to move towards them.

"Not without Aang!" Katara informs him, eyes locked on Avatar Roku.

The imposing figure raises his arm before sending it down towards the floor. They all stagger as the entire temple shakes, a long crack splitting apart the floor. The siblings and Shyu are on the side close to a broken window while Xena had fallen back on the opposite side with Zuko, Zhao, and the soldiers.

"Xena!" Katara calls in alarm.

Xena meets her gaze on the other girl, one hand holding her twisted ankle. A large wall of lava blocks their view of each other as Roku continues his rampage. The heat is almost unbearable and Xena closes her eyes. They snap back open when an arm slips under her own and pulls her upwards. Someone else supports her other side and she is admittedly surprised to find herself standing between Zuko and one of Zhao's soldier as they pull her behind a pillar.

"What-"

Neither answer the broken confused sentence. The wall of magma lowers and Xena feels the power of the Avatar State slipping away, leaving Aang behind.

"We need to move before this temple comes down on our heads," Zuko says, before starting towards the stairs and forcing the soldier and Xena to follow him. She looks back over her shoulder and sees the fearful look in Aang's eyes.

" _Go. Get Katara and Sokka out of here. I'll be fine."_

She can tell that he is against the idea, but he drags the two siblings towards the window anyway. It's not like they have any other choice anyways. The crack separating them has grown even larger and it was doubtable that any one that wasn't Aang would be able to safely jump the gap.

"No," Zuko says weakly.

Xena can understand his upset. Lava had completely covered the stairs. They were trapped. She couldn't help laughing bitterly.

"And this is why you don't take the time to save your enemy, gentlemen."

"Come on. There has to be another way out," Zuko says, ignoring her comment.

"There isn't unless you can fly," She says, gesturing to the hole in the ceiling above their heads and resisting his tug by leaning closer to the soldier.

Honestly, she had no idea what was going through their minds when they rushed to save her, but they would have been better off just getting out of here when they had the chance earlier. Now all three of them were going to die. If one of them were an earthbender they would have at least been able to tunnel out.

. . . Tunnel.

"That's it!" Her shout took the two men off guard and they both turned to give her questioning looks. "Roku's tunnels, help me over to it."

"Those tunnels are farther underground. They're probably already filled with lava."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Look it's the best chance we got."

Zuko exchanged glances with the soldier. Finally, the prince nodded and she sighed in relief as they helped her towards the tunnel. Zuko pressed his hand to the wall to open the door and all three peered nervously down the spiral staircase. The building shakes even harder than before and they waste no time stepping into the tunnel that appears relatively clear of lava for the moment. The going is slow at first as the stairs are narrow and not suited for three people to go down them side by side. Eventually, the soldier just scoops Xena off the ground in a bridal carry, leaving Zuko to finish leading them down the stairs. It's only once they are in the main wider part of the temple that the soldier sets her down so they both can support her weight again.

"I don't understand. How is this tunnel not flooded with lava?"

"Avatar Roku made these tunnels with the volcano in mind. He had to have made the walls sturdy enough that should an earthquake happen they wouldn't collapse and allow the tunnels to be flooded."

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Zuko is thankfully more familiar with Roku's tunnels than Xena is as he manages to lead them straight onto the island's beach. Unfortunately, that tunnel also happens to open up right in front of where Zhao and his men had docked their boats. Its also unfortunate that the soldiers, in the process of pushing their boats out, notice them immediately.

"I see you're still alive, Prince Zuko," Zhao remarks and then gestures to his soldiers. "Take him and that girl prisoner.

The soldier holding Xena up suddenly lets her go completely, forcing Zuko to support her weight alone. He turns to face them, dropping into a firebending stance. For the first time, he speaks to them.

"Sorry, but I have to do my job."

Zuko narrows his gaze at the soldier, body filled with tension as her hand flexes against her side. The smart thing for him to do would be to drop Xena and run, but she can tell that he won't. There's really only one choice left to make.

Xena forces all of her aches and pains to her mind as she pulls herself away from Zuko, forcing herself to balance on her one good leg. When he glances at her, she meets his gaze evenly.

"You saved me now I get to return the favor. Run."

He hesitates, but as she draws his swords he finally nods and takes off across the beach. The soldiers, including the one who had helped her, made to give chase but were quickly cut off by shining steel. With her sprained leg, she was rooted in one place, but this particular section of the beach was narrow enough that she could hold them at bay long enough for Zuko to make his escape. Who ever would've thought that someday she'd be helping her enemy after he'd saved her life?

* * *

 **Got a confirmation from Fuzzy Fire'chu saying he will Beta for me, but he's been busy so it might be awhile before he can.**  
 **Anyone that has read my previous stories most likely knows of the impending Xena/Zuko interactions coming up within a few chapters. I have plans to do 1-2 completely original chapters focusing on them and was curious to know what type of interactions you might like to see between them or what moments that occur before The Northern Air Temple that you may like to see expanded upon. You can post your suggestion as a review or PM me. All I ask is that you try to keep in mind the rating, but other than that feel free to suggest any awkward, embarrassing, tense, angry, adorable, etc. situations you like. I have no guarantees that they'll be used in the first book, but they may inspire scenes in the next ones.**  
 **Keep on being awesome and I'll see you next chapter whenever that may be.**

Momochan77- **Hope this is fast enough for you. I didn't take a month or more to post this time. :)**  
lizyeh2000- **You're very welcome.**  
SagicKnight- **There's a possibility their game will continue later so stay tuned.**  
MultiFandomLover99- **Glad you like it.**  
Mogor- **Here you go.**

Phill.F- **Many thanks for the cookies and for the review.**


	9. Invictus

**Book One: The Avatar's Guardian/Winter**

 **Chapter Eight: Invictus**

* * *

" **In the fell clutch of circumstance**

 **I have not winced nor cried aloud.**

 **Under the bludgeoning of chance**

 **My head is bloody, but unbowed."**

 **\- Excerpt from "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley**

* * *

Every inhale brought with it a sharp stabbing pain as if her lungs were filled with broken glass. That fire sage had done quite the number on her ribs and the kick she'd received from one of the Fire Nation soldiers after her recapture must have fractured at least one of the bones. She kept her breaths short and shallow in an effort to lessen the pain but leaving her consequently light-headed as if her head were filled with cotton fluff. Trying to get her mind to focus past the pain and the numerous other discomforts was nearly impossible. Instead her thoughts kept drifting back to how the restraints chaining her on her knees and pulling her arms behind her back pinched and chaffed from how tight they were, or how her cell is pitch black and her inner fire burning too low for her to even regulate her temperature let alone sense the heat around her with firebending.

It's impossible for her to tell how much time has passed and her inability to do anything but dwell on her circumstance has begun to take its toll. The small tremors started in her hands and she grasped the fabric of her pants to still them. However, there's no stopping the way her heartbeat picked up or how her breaths slowly quickened into ragged pants that sends fresh waves of pain through her chest. Somehow knowing that she was in the beginning stages of an anxiety attack, only made it worse. So she closed her eyes against the inky blackness and tried to rein in the wave of panic and fear eating away at her nerves.

The door slammed open and she flinched, muscles tensing. The sudden return of light left her squinting at the blurred backlit figure standing in the doorway. Heavy footsteps rang out on the metal floor as they approached her and by the time her eyes adjusted, Zhao was already standing in front of her.

His fingers brushed her cheek, wiping away moisture. Whether the tears were from pain or her pending anxiety attack she didn't know, but his touch sent chills down her spine from how unwanted it was. She shifted away from him, eyes narrowed.

"Are you afraid," He said with a cruel grin.

"Terrified," She answered, keeping her face blank.

His lips twitched and he gripped her chin tightly, "Good."

Her jaw clenched angrily, teeth grinding together. He tilted her head to the side, so he could examine her tattoos. "They say that every tattoo a wolf warrior possesses has symbolism. It's quite bold of you to display your mixed heritage in such a way."

"Mixed heritage?"

"Your skin tone betrays you. Far too light to belong to either the Water Tribe or the Earth Kingdom, though your bone structure definitely belongs to the former. Tell me, what is the name of your traitorous parent who would sully themself with the likes of a savage."

He actually thought she was half Fire Nation. He'd looked right at the crescent moon on her brow and had just assumed she was a half-breed. The very same assumption that had alienated her from her father and people until her true nature as the Avatar's Guardian was brought to life.

"It wouldn't be of any use to you to know my parents' name since they're dead." How long did her mother sit and worry after her disappearance? Did she waste her life away waiting for Xena to return home? And her brother, was he even still alive?

Her cheek stung fiercely as his open hand impacted her cheek right over the burn she'd received from Zuko. She spat blood to the side, fixing him with a hard stare.

"Tend to her wounds. She's useless as bait if she's dead." A smaller man dressed in black and red shuffled into the room with a black medical bag clutched to his chest, three fully armored soldiers behind him.

She couldn't help it. She laughed. Jagged shards of pain erupted in her chest, but it was worth it to see the shock on Zhao and the healer's face. Every muscle relaxed in her relief.

"You are sorely mistaken if you think you can use me as bait for the Avatar. He knows better than to come for me despite how much he may want to." She'd warned him repeatedly through their bond after all.

"We shall see," Zhao responded and left her to his healer and men.

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The healer was gentle and efficient as he tended to her various injuries. Xena almost regretted that she had to break his nose. She didn't know if it was because she a woman, unarmed, outnumbered, injured, or some combination of the four that lulled the men in a false sense of security, but whatever the reason was, she was grateful. The doctor was tending to the burn on her cheek, head bent close to make up for the less than adequate lighting. It was the perfect opportunity for a headbutt. There was a pop of cartilage as her forehead connected with his nose. She ignored her own pain from the action as he reeled backward, yanking her unchained right arm free from the soldiers whose grip had slipped in surprise at the sudden violence.

The guard holding her left arm tried to drag the arm behind her back and pulled her partially to her feet. She threw her weight back into him, knocking him off balance and loosening his grip. Xena freed her arm, snatched the keys from his belt and pushed him into the third guard who came to assist him. The two tripped over the medical bag, sending its contents spilling across the floor. She then kicked the healer in the face as he tried to stand, balancing on the one leg that was still chained before leaning to the side to dodge the first guard's flameless punch. He threw another punch and she grabbed his outstretched arm, yanking him closer to deliver a knee to his gut. When he doubled over, she took the opportunity to hiss in his ear.

"What are you doing?"

Xena had never seen the face of the soldier who had helped Zuko and her at the temple, but he was the only one who would throw such a half-hearted punch.

"I thought you wanted to escape? I was letting you."

"We're in the middle of the damn ocean," She kicked the legs out from under the other two soldiers as they tried to stand, grappling weakly with the one from the temple. "Where am I going to escape to? Will you stop being nice and just play along?"

He sighed and then quite abruptly caught Xena's wrist, yanking it behind her back with enough force to dislocate her shoulder before forcing her onto the floor among the medical equipment. She cried out in pain from the new injury almost blacking out at the excruciating pain that shot through her ribs. The keys fell from her hand and slid across the floor.

"Nice try, but no," He said loudly and held her still as she weakly squirmed under him.

The other two guards helped him restrain her again, allowing the healer to angrily snap her arm back into place. Once she was rechained, they went about picking up all the scattered medical supplies. She watched them through her bangs, head bowed in pain. They left as soon as the mess was picked up, closing the door behind them and plunging the room back into darkness. Her lips curved upwards at the corners as she fingers the cool metal scalpel tucked under the bindings around her arms.

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"Dinner!"

Xena glanced up at the cheerful Fire Nation soldier that entered with a tray balanced on one hand and a lit lantern in the other. There was a noticeable bounce in his step as he hung the lantern on a hook by the door before approaching her with the tray. A small bowl of plain rice and the smallest cup of water she had ever seen sat on the tray with a set of chopsticks lying between them. It was nothing special, but hunger clawed violently at her belly anyway.

"Sorry about your arm by the way," he apologized. "I just thought it might be more believable that way."

She was silent as she watched him. His shoulders slumped at her silence as he sat down beside her with the tray in her lap. Her lips twitched. In that moment, he looked like a puppy that was being scolded for chewing on something it wasn't supposed to.

"I don't understand you," She finally said. "You helped the prince and I escape from the temple and then earlier you were willing to let me escape."

"I have my reasons."

"Care to share?"

He didn't reply for a moment as he broke the chopsticks apart with a loud snap. "When I first joined the military, my family was so proud and I was too. I thought I would become a hero who earned glory and honor for my nation, but then my platoon got sent out to the front lines. Twenty-five of us with almost no training between us. Twenty-two died in the first battle before the main force swept in behind while the Earth Kingdom troops were distracted with us. Not a week later, one of the surviving members committed suicide. I was moved to a new platoon while the other survivor was sent home due to being paralyzed from the waist down."

Xena opened and closed her mouth, unsure of what to say. He didn't give her the opportunity to, instead holding a wad of rice up to her mouth as he continued to talk.

"It was about that time that I realized we had been used as nothing more than cannon fodder. A few months later, I found out that someone had spoken out against the plan that had killed so many of us new recruits. Our crown prince was only fourteen at the time, but he had more honor than those more than twice his age.

"He had enough honor to even save you, his enemy. Someday Prince Zuko will become Fire Lord and he'll be the first in four generations to actually lead with honor. How could I not want to help him?"

She chewed on a mouthful of cold overcooked rice thoughtfully. "Then why try to let me escape."

"Because you're the Avatar's Guardian."

"That's not what your boss thinks."

"That's because he thinks you're a myth like most people in the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom."

"Fine, let's say I am the Guardian. What does that have to do with you being so willing to let me escape?"

He shifted the tray in his lap before answering. "This war needs to end and you and the Avatar are the best chance of making that happen."

"That's rather contradictory isn't it," She said, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "You want your prince to sit on the Fire Nation throne, but you also want the Avatar to put a stop to the war which would require us to defeat the Fire Nation and Fire Lord."

"Can't they be one in the same?"

"I'm not sure that's how that works."

He didn't respond as he lifted the water glass for her to drink out of. "I should go before anyone starts to get suspicious as to why I'm taking so long."

She nodded in understanding and watched silently as he stood and left her in the dark once more. Literally as well as metaphorically. He'd left her with more questions than answers. She had a lot to think about.

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" _Master Takumi, what are you doing?"_

" _Playing a game of Pia Sho."_

" _With yourself?"_

" _As amusing as that may be, no. I was actually hoping to play with my favorite student."_

" _Who?"_

" _You of course."_

" _Me, but I've never played before."_

" _I'll teach you. Sit with me."_

" _This tile here is one of my favorites. It's called a White Lotus."_

" _Why's it your favorite?"_

" _Because I made many a friend with this tile. It may seem like just a game to you, but Pia Sho can bring people together even during the darkest of times. Someday when you become an adult, I'll show you the true strategy of the White Lotus, but for now, I think we'll just stick with the basics."_

" _Master?"_

" _Yes?"_

" _Am I really your favorite student?"_

" _Of course."_

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Xena stared down into her blurry lap, blinking her wet eyes slowly. A once happy memory turned bittersweet by the simple passage of time. If Aang had waited only a few months more before running away, Master Takumi might have been able to keep his promise.

"Can't believe you actually managed to sleep like that."

She looked up through her bangs at the unhelmeted soldier sitting beside her for a moment before rolling her neck to work out the kinks. When she finished, she scrutinized him carefully as this was the first time seeing him without his helmet.

He was older than her, maybe in his early twenties. His shaggy hair was a lighter brown than she was expecting. Too short to be pulled into a proper topknot, but long enough to be a nuisance as he kept shaking his bangs out of his eyes only for them to fall right back into place. His soulful amber eyes were crinkled a little at the edges as he smiled in amusement.

"See something you like?"

"I suppose you're not completely unpleasing to the eye," she responded neutrally. "Is this a social visit or were you here to bring me food."

"A little bit of both actually. You seemed the type to go stir crazy if you sat for too long so I'd thought I'd come earlier today so we had time to talk."

"Food first," she requested.

As she ate, he told her that she'd been captive for nearly seventy-two hours and that they were currently sailing Earth Kingdom waters. He told her how Commander Zhao planned to spread the news that he'd captured her in hopes of baiting Aang and apparently held high hopes for setting the trap in one of the Fire Nation colony's most secure fortresses. They'd even discussed briefly, Xena's dislike of tea when he'd brought her a cup thinking she'd like something more flavorful than water. She drank it anyway and as he returned the empty cup to the tray, she finally readied herself to address what they'd spoken of the last time.

"They aren't the same thing."

"I'll be sure to bring water next time."

"I'm not talking about the tea. I'm talking about defeating the Fire Nation and putting Prince Zuko on the throne."

"Oh," he folded his hands in his lap. "And why not?"

"Because for whatever reason he's trying to capture Aang for the Fire Nation despite the fact that he's apparently a traitor if I'm to believe what your commander has said."

"He isn't a traitor. He was banished for-"

"Don't." Her tone was sharp. "Until he stops trying to capture Aang, he is my enemy. I don't want to know anything that might make me hesitate in my duty. I don't want some hope that he's actually a good guy and that we might be able to sway him over to our side."

"And what if he were to choose to change sides by himself?"

"Then maybe defeating the Fire Nation and putting him on the throne could be the same thing, but at this point, it's just a hypothetical." She cleared her throat. Barely into the conversation and her throat was already dry. To bad, he hadn't brought more tea or water with him.

"I suppose you're right, but I think I'll still hold onto my hope for that hypothetical if you don't mind," he said, his eyes sparkling with the aforementioned hope.

"It's idealistic, but-" she cleared her throat again and wished her hands were free to scratch at the annoying itch that spread across her chest. "But I won't hold that against you."

"Are you alright?"

"I-" She broke off as her stomach flipped.

"Are you seasick?"

The first time Xena had ridden a boat, she was practically bedridden from seasickness. It lasted for two whole days before she found her sea legs. It was the only time she'd experienced sickness. While her current nausea certainly felt like seasickness, she knew that it couldn't be. She shook her head to his question, letting out a dry cough. Feeling as if she couldn't get enough air, she dragged in a ragged breath and only succeeded in irritating her throat more and causing her broken ribs to pulse with pain from the action. The itchiness of her chest began to burn, her blood feeling almost as if it was boiling. What was happening to her?

"Woah, hey!" A warm hand gripped her shoulder, holding her upright. "Damn it. I need some help in here!"

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The ship's infirmary was actually quite nice even if the healer wasn't. That last part was most likely her fault though since she had broken his nose. He would glare at her while tending to her injuries, poking and prodding with far more pressure than was probably required. Whatever reaction he was hoping to achieve by this, he didn't receive. She bore the rough treatment silently and without complaint, instead focusing on how grateful she was to be able to lay in an actual bed and to have her arms chained in front of her rather than behind her.

By eavesdropping on a conversation between the healer, her friendly soldier, and Commander Zhao when she woke up, she discovered that she had apparently had an unknown allergy to jasmine. If it weren't for the advancements in medicine that the Fire Nation had made in the last hundred years, she most likely would have died. That knowledge only served to point how her dislike of tea, in general, may have saved her life when she was younger. Of all the ways Xena knew she could kill her, she never thought a plant edible to most humans would be on that list.

"Hey."

She broke from her thoughts as she tilted her head to look at the soldier nervously fidgeting with his helmet in the doorway. She flicked her gaze next to the soldier meant to be guarding her where he sat with his head on his chest in a deep slumber.

"Hey," she said, careful to keep her voice low. "You know, you never did tell me your name."

"It's Kane." He replied and took her greeting as permission to come in and sit on the stool beside her bed. "I'm so sorry if I'd known I would never have brought you that tea."

"It's okay. I didn't know either."

"You didn't?"

"I never knew. Never had a reason to know. My dislike of tea is probably the only reason I never found out before. Probably a good thing I found out now and not a hundred years ago."

"You know, it never fully registered that you're over a hundred years old before now."

"Almost a hundred and sixteen next spring." She frowned.

"I can't imagine what that must feel like."

"Sometimes it feels like a dream," She replied honestly. "To other people, our pasts seems so distant, but not to us. We don't have any memories of the hundred years we spent trapped in an iceberg and there isn't even some mystical spiritual awareness that time passed either. It feels like the two of us have stepped into the future and everything we knew and almost everyone we loved is gone."

"It must be hard."

"It is." She lightly stroked the hard lump she could feel through the fabric wrapped around her forearm. "It really is."

* * *

 **Long time, no write. I'm not entirely satisfied with the length of this chapter, but I also didn't want to stuff it with filler. Instead of telling you here why this chapter is so late, I'd thought I'd redirect you to my new Facebook page I made to keep a weekly update of what's going on in my life as well as the progress of my stories. It's called WolfheartWrites.**

 **I also sorta have a Beta now that's not the one I was talking about before, a friend IRL named Lily. She's edited up to chapter 3 for me, but** **she's swamped with college and can't do any more at the moment. Those chapters will go up sometime later today or tomorrow. The prologue has been entirely rewritten, but the other chapters have only had their grammar and present/past tenses fixed up.**

 **No replies to reviews this time, unfortunately. It's late and I'm tired, but know that I have seen and greatly appreciate the reviews. Keep on being awesome, my friends, and I'll see you next chapter.**

 **Edit 10/15/17: It deleted my url despite the spaces :( so I decided to just give the page name instead.**


	10. A Step Back in Time

**Book One: The Avatar's Guardian/Winter**

 **Chapter Nine: A Step Back in Time**

* * *

" _ **An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. 'A fight is going on inside me,' he said to the boy.**_

' _ **It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.' He continued, 'The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.'**_

 _ **The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, 'Which wolf will win?'**_

 _ **The old Cherokee simply replied, 'The one you feed.'"**_

 **-I'm not entirely sure where I got this quote from. But it's not mine.**

* * *

"Can't sleep?"

Xena made a noise of affirmation as she leaned against the balcony railing.

"Nightmares?"

"Isn't it always."

"What about the smokeleaf I gave you?"

"I don't need a drug to help me sleep." Her hands tightened into fists, smoking slightly.

A heavy sigh came from behind her. "I am worried about you, Xena."

"Worried about me or worried that I'll be too exhausted to protect Aang properly?"

"I meant exactly what I said and no more. I may have only known you for a short while, Xenia, but I have come to care for you as I care for Aang."

She bowed her head and unclenched her fists, before turning to face the kind elderly monk that had raised Aang and was always there to offer her a listening ear. "I'm sorry, Monk Gyatso. I know you care it's just that. . ."

He placed a hand on her shoulder when she trailed off. "You are trapped in a downward spiral that may one day consume you if you are not careful. I am happy to support you, but only you can set yourself free."

"I don't know if I can," Her voice wavered on the last sentence, tears running down her cheeks as he enveloped her in a hug.

"I have faith in you. It may be difficult, but try and remember that there are people that love and care about you."

They stayed like that for several minutes before Xena stepped back and wiped her face on her sleeve. "I should probably go back to bed. We have a long day tomorrow."

"Sleep well," He folded his hands into his sleeves, turning to stare up at the night sky. "And Xenia?"

She paused in the doorway, looking back at him over her shoulder.

"Remember it is our choice what wolf we feed."

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Xena was unable to fall back asleep and had spent the night tossing and turning before giving up and choosing to meditate by candlelight. Now sitting in a warm patch of sunlight with the background noise of Aang and the other airbender boys playing, her eyes drifted shut. The thin carving knife slipped from her fingers to land with a clatter on the ground beside her. She jolted back to awareness and rubbed her aching eyes as she stared unseeingly at Aang. A few moments later her eyelids began to drift closed again and she finally surrendered, lying back on the ground and basking in the warmth of the sun.

She stirred again a few minutes later, disoriented for a moment at the loss of sun on her face. Opening her eyes, she tilted her head to the side to look at the group of elderly monks whose shadows now fell across her body. Only Monk Gyatso was looking at her, the others focused on the group of playing boys. She dragged herself up right at the concerned look in his eyes before he turned to the young boys.

"Aang, come with us. We need to speak with you," He called.

"You should come with us as well, Guardian," one of the other monks said.

Unused to hearing her title, Xena hesitated for a moment before standing and brushing dirt and wood shavings from her clothes. Aang bounded over to them with a bright and curious smile, glancing at Xena who shrugged at his unspoken question. The two followed the monks to one of the meeting chambers and waited politely for their elders to sit before sitting as well. Monk Tashi wasted no time in explaining to Aang that he was the Avatar.

"How do you know it's me?" Aang asked unsurely, twisting the fabric of his shirt between his fingers.

"We have known you were the Avatar for some time," Tashi informed him, using airbending to push a rolled up cloth over to Aang. "Do you remember these?"

The cloth landed and unrolled to show four different children's toys Aang picked up the propeller with a smile, "These were some of my favorite toys when I was little."

"You chose these from among thousands of toys, Aang. The toys you picked were the four Avatar relics. They belonged to Avatar's past, your own past lives."

Xena had always found the idea ridiculous that these so-called relics were used to test the Avatar. Any child could have taken a particular interest in these exact four toys whether they were the Avatar or not, and it was as equally as likely that the next Avatar in the cycle might have different likes and interests than their previous past lives.

"I just chose them because they seemed fun," Aang said, pulling the cord on the propellor to send it spinning into the air.

"You chose them because they were familiar," Monk Tashi corrected.

Xena snorted and ignored the irritated glares from some of the monks at her disrespect. Aang glanced at her but turned forward as Gyatso spoke next.

"Normally, we would have told you of your identity when you turned sixteen, but there are troubling signs, storm clouds are gathering."

"I fear that war may be upon us, young Avatar," Head Monk Pasang said. "And I deeply regret that we must call upon you and your Guardian so soon."

"My Guardian?" Aang asked. Despite the mention of war, Aang was still just a child and it came to no surprise that this was the bit of information he latched onto. The possibility of meeting the first Avatar's Guardian, his Guardian, filled him with excitement. "Are they here? Do I get to meet them?"

"You have already met her. Guardian Xenia came to join you as soon as she had finished her training."

Xena closed her eyes with a quiet sigh, shoulders falling. She opened them and locked eyes with Gyatso whose expression was filled with concern and perhaps a small amount of pity. She turned her head to Aang. The hurt in his eyes hit her like a blow to the gut and already through their bond, she could sense Aang's feelings of betrayal.

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"You knew this entire time!"

"Yes," She answered Aang honestly.

"And you never told me."

"I wanted to." She can feel Gyatso's stare on them were he lingers by the door, not wanting to interfere.

"Are you even my friend or was that just a lie? Or how about when you said I was like a younger brother to you? Was it all just a lie."

"What? No, Aang. Of course not," She stood and reached out a hand, feeling strangely flustered and startled by the direction he had taken this.

"Don't touch me," He snapped.

"Let me explain, please," She begged.

"Get out of my room!"

She staggered back and shot Gyatso a desperate look. He seems just as unsure of how to handle this conversation as she does. Her shoulders dropped as she curled in on herself and left the room. The elderly monk placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from going too far.

"I'll try to talk to him."

She nodded once without meeting his gaze and walks off down the corridor. She stopped when she turned the corner and rubbed at the wetness running down her face. With a harsh swear, she slammed her fist into the wall, startling a monk who'd just stepped out of a nearby room. He shrank back at the sight of her aggravated expression and retreated back into the room.

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Aang was ignoring her and it hurt more than she thought it ever could. The first few days after the truth was revealed, she took to following Aang around the temple just as she once had. She left a much larger gap between them than usual and resigned herself to the fact that she was no longer following the boy around because he was her only friend in the temple, but because he was her charge. So as his Guardian she watched and felt his pain as the other airbender boys refused to play with Aang because it would be unfair now that he was the Avatar. The elder monks watched on and would either bow and treat Aang with a respect they felt he deserved as the Avatar or they tried to force him to train and complained when he acted like the child he still was. The more hurt that Aang got by everyone's rejections, the angrier Xena got until she was walking a thin tightrope of control. So when Aang decided to give her the slip, she left him be and took to exploring the temple by herself.

She found a small hidden clearing in the gardens where she could sit and relax in the shade of a moon peach tree. The only thing that would come to disturb her was the winged lemurs. One particularly bold lemur, who she nicknamed Buddy, took to curling up in her lap right away. The other lemurs watched with their large round eyes for the first few days before they decided she was no threat, and they would pick peaches from the tree to hand to her while clambering over her and begging to be petted. When their attention would get to be a bit overwhelming, Buddy would screech at them and they'd flee to the treetops.

"There are studies that say petting an animal can greatly reduce stress."

Xena was unsurprised that Monk Gyatso had found her. She hummed in response and continued to scratch Buddy behind the ears. The young lemur lying atop her head pricked its ears up to watch the newcomer with curious distrust, its tail curling around her neck almost possessively.

"You know Aang has always been quite the animal lover, but he's never had the affinity for them that you do," He remarked and took a seat across from her, setting up a Pai Sho board between them.

"Probably because he's always trying to ride them," she remarked. "And to high energy."

"You're probably right. Tea?"

"No, thank you."

"He is still angry with you." It wasn't a question. "You may have the first turn."

She moved a piece. "He has a right to be."

"True, but that does not make his disregard for your feelings right."

"Nor is everyone else's disregard for his." She pulled her carving knife from her pocket and cut into a moon peach, offering half to him. "They should have waited."

"There are dark days ahead of us. Telling him now will serve to make him more prepared for what is to come." He accepts the peach and moves a piece on the board.

"It's also all the more reason to let him enjoy what's left of his childhood," She retorts, taking a bite out of her peach, juice running down her chin.

The lemur on her head decides to lick it off, practically assaulting her face. Letting out a startled cry, she knocks Buddy out of her lap as she tries to fend it off.

"Ew. No. I don't want your tongue in my mouth. Stop laughing, old man, and help me."

The Pai Sho board is knocked aside as the commotion draws all the other lemurs to them and soon Xena is buried under a mound of fluffy bodies seeking attention. Gyatso continues to laugh and Buddy takes the opportunity to steal both his and her half of the moon peach disinterestedly.

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"Aang needs to have freedom and fun. He needs to grow up as a normal boy."

"You cannot keep protecting him from his destiny!" Xena clenched her hands into fists as Monk Tashi scoffed at Gyatso.

"Gyatso, I know you mean well," Monk Pasang spoke softly. "But you are letting your affection for the boy cloud your judgment."

"All I want is what's best for him."

"But we need what is best for the world," The Head Monk stated firmly. "You and Aang must be separated. The Avatar and his Guardian will be sent away to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training."

Pain and disbelief radiated through the bond at his words. Xena closed her eyes as she sensed the eavesdropping Aang flee. She clenches and unclenches her fists, trying to hold back her anger at the situation.

"And as for you, Guardian Xena. I know you are young and unused to responsibility, but your behavior this past week has been shameful. When you are at the Eastern Temple you will remain at Aang's side at all times and you will also begin his waterbending training."

"No."

"Excuse me."

"I said no," She repeated, silver eyes flashing open as she squared her shoulders and looked the elderly monk straight in the eyes. "You claim that I am not used to responsibility, but you are wrong. My entire childhood was spent training to protect your precious Avatar since Roku died. I was told that it was my role in life to protect the Avatar even if it cost me my own life. I was given no say in the matter as my childhood was ripped away by old fools like you-"

"Xena!"

"- that thought they knew what was best - not for me - but for the Avatar."

"Enough!"

"Aang is a child," She raised her voice. No more. She refused to back down to these men who claimed to know what responsibility was. "He is a twelve-year-old boy who is scared and overwhelmed by the knowledge that he's expected to save the world. He is lonely because his friends refuse to play with him anymore because someone he's suddenly a different person now that it's been revealed that he's the Avatar. His teachers, those he once looked up to, try to force him into training from morning till night all because you want him to save the world."

She paused to suck in a breath of air before continuing. "He is a child, but you are adults which means it's your responsibility to preserve his child and allow him as much normalcy as possible before he is forced onto a pedestal where he will be treated as if he's some sort of infallible spirit with no real emotion on his own. The only one here who's actually fulfilling that responsibility is Monk Gyatso. And since you'd rather throw your weight around to force a child into a role he never asked for, you leave me no choice but to throw my weight around. As his Guardian, I get the ultimate say in Aang's safety and I say that Aang is safest here with Monk Gyatso. He will train a reasonable amount of time and while be given a reasonable amount of free time in which he can spend however he wishes without me constantly hovering over his shoulder and infringing upon his privacy.

I want it to be made absolutely clear that I am Aang's Guardian. Aang's not just the Avatar's. I protect him because I love him, not because I have been told to. I will continue to protect him for the rest of my life and I will shoulder as much as his burden as I have to so he can remain both physically and mentally healthy. I will make decisions that align with that, but I will also respect his wishes as a human being with his own emotions and desires because no one knows what's really best for him but himself. Is that clear? Good."

Without waiting around for their responses, she turns to go after Aang. Gyatso catches her eyes before she leaves, a proud smile on his face as he dips her head to her. She dips her head to him respectfully and strides from the room. Tension slips from her body as she relaxes and lets out a shaky laugh. She runs a hand through her bangs and drags in gasping breaths between laughs. Had she really just told off a room full of Monks over four times her age?

She had to find Aang and let him know they weren't going to take him from Gyatso right away. Her bare feet slapped against the ground as she took off. Monks scattered out of her way as she flew through the halls and she called apologies over her shoulders.

"Aang, you'll never believe. . ." She trailed off as she rushed into Aang's empty bedroom. ". . . it. What?"

Aang's room was often a bit messy, but Xena had never seen it this bad before. It was almost as if someone had ransacked it. She looked through the mess, noticing that there were quite a few things missing, including his travel pack. Eyes wide in shock, she tapped into their bond and reached out to sense Aang's thoughts. She took a step and fled into her room, grabbing her travel pack with its attached bedroll before taking off once more through the temple to where the bison were kept.

She arrives on the walkway above the bison field just in time to see a saddled Appa ready to take flight. "Aang!"

He ignores her and she swears under her breath before throwing herself off the balcony in a running jump. Aang jumps as she lands in Appa's saddle with a thump. She takes a stumbled step to recover from the sudden landing and almost topples over Appa's side.

"Go away, Xenia!"

"Aang, wait. You don't have to-"

"I don't want to talk to you."

Frustration wells in her chest. With a massive exhale, she allows her shoulders to slump in defeat before and allows her legs to buckle beneath her. "Fine I won't talk, but I'm not letting you leave alone."

He doesn't say a word in response only waves the reins and gives Appa the command to take off. Hopefully, if she gives him some time, he'll calm down enough so she can explain everything to him. Whether it takes a week or a month, she'll give him all the time he needs to process everything that has happened.

* * *

 **What about 100 years?**

 **So this chapter started out a bit difficult to write, but it needed to be done. There's a major change from when I first did this chapter which is that instead of Xena accepting the Monk's order, she actually spoke her mind. The thing I loved about this show was the fact that despite being this powerful being that could control all four elements, they made Aang still act like a kid. A lot of the characters get so wrapped in the fact that he's the Avatar that they seem to often overlook the fact that he is still, in fact, a kid. And since Xena never really got the chance to be a kid, she would constantly be trying to fight for Aang's right to still have a childhood and to point out to everyone that yes, he's the Avatar, but he's a twelve-year-old first. There are a few other scenes where I hope to have Xena enforce this fact, especially with Zuko.**

 **And as a note to all those who are adults reading this. As adults, it is our job to look out for children and treat them with kindness and compassion. And not belittle them or abuse them or even neglect them.**

 **Don't forget I have a new Facebook page called WolfheartWrites at /AvatarWolfheart. It's late and I'm tired, so I'm off to bed before I ramble anymore.**

Mogor, Momochan77, Sagicknight, Znkp- **Thanks for the reviews. I really appreciate them.**


	11. Rescue

**Book One: The Avatar's Guardian/Winter**

 **Chapter Ten: Rescue**

* * *

It felt like she'd been waiting for months. There was something strangely comforting about finally stepping onto land after spending the majority of two weeks held prisoner on a ship. Probably because escape was a more feasible option on land than in the middle of an ocean. She wasn't completely healed, her ribs still slightly sore, but such a minor discomfort would hardly slow her down. And with all this in mind, she wasn't even all that concerned that she was exchanging one prison for a more "secure" one.

Xena paused when she first stepped off the gangplank, taking in a deep breath of fresh air that smelled of the ocean and rain. A sharp tug at the chains around her wrist and the sharp command to "Keep moving," set her in motion again, following the soldier in front of her as others took their places around her. She kept her head held high the entire walk through the town, meeting a few gazes here and there of the curious locals as they lead her down the main street. One caught her eye in particular, a broad-shouldered individual wearing a thick black cloak with the hood up despite the heat of the noonday sun as he watched. Xena allowed her gaze to drift over him towards the decorative mask cart he stood beside. There was something familiar about his stance, tall and proud. After they'd passed, he turned and walked away, out of the range in which she could sense his heat. A soldier prodded her in the back unkindly and she picked up the pace with which she walked.

"In a hurry to get somewhere?" she said.

"Shut up." Was the response.

"Rude."

Her mouth curved up into a slight grin as the soldier shoved her forward again. A quiet snort sounded from her right, and she cocked an eyebrow at the soldier who'd made the noise. He was looking straight ahead, but his shoulders trembled slightly as if trying to hold back a laugh. Kane and she were by no means friends, but Xena still found his presence just a little comforting, and it made it easier to hold the cocky smirk. It was a foreign expression for her, one that had always suited Temari far more.

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She was beginning to regret her earlier confidence. The walk to the new prison- a large fort - was a long and wet one, especially when it started raining. Again. At least this time, she was on solid ground and not a violently rocking ship. By the time they made it to the fort, she and the soldiers were soaking wet and freezing, mud smeared up to their knees. The ditch to the side of the road was practically a stream with the way the muddy water rushed through it. Blinking water from her eyes, she squinted up at the fort through the rain. Watchtowers were set periodically along both the tall outer and inner walls. Without any climbing gear or a really long rope, they would be impossible to scale. Both of the gates they passed through were guarded by at least eight soldiers and more soldiers moved around inside the fort. Some were practicing marching, others sparring, and many more carrying out other various tasks. Breaking in or out of this place would be a nightmare.

The room she was led to was large with a round platform in the middle with two pillars on either side. Her arms were chained above her head to those pillars and she was forced onto her knees once more. Large braziers burned bright around the circumference of the room, making the air hot and dry. At least her clothes would dry quickly. Once she was secured, the now Admiral, Zhao strode into the room. He was prematurely gloating, still seeming to think that Aang would actually come to rescue Xena. Honestly, Xena was only half listening to him as she stared over his shoulder at the thick steel door that had closed behind him. Beyond the door, four figures stood guard, three burning the brighter shade of firebenders.

"- and the Fire Lord-"

"Are you still talking?"

 _Slap._ She turned her head back to face the Admiral, cheek red and stinging. She smirked at him and watched as his face went red with anger. The second slap was as expected as the first and she continued to smirk as he stormed from the room. Once the door closed with a solid thud, she allowed the smirk to drop in favor of an exhausted expression. Her body began to tremble as the tension holding her still finally left her. _I need to get back to Aang._ She hung her head and sniffed slightly. _I need to get back to them._ One way or another, Xena was going to get out of this mess. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and then another, feeling the braziers responding to her breath and Inner Fire.

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Xena jolted awake suddenly, blinking and looking around the room blurrily. She tugged at the chains around her wrists thoughtlessly. Reality set in and she jerked again, waking up entirely. How long had she slept? She glanced at a brazier and the low flame that flickered within it. A few hours then. Sighing, she rolled her shoulders and flexed her hands around the chain, trying to stimulate the blood flow and shake off the numbness that was setting in. With a couple of deep breaths, the fires around the room increased in height and intensity offering more light to the dimmed room. The flames flickered as a sudden clench in her empty belly reminded her that she hadn't eaten the entire day. She grimaced and pushed the discomfort to the back of her mind to join the various others.

A dull clatter sounded through the steel door and she jerked her head up to stare at the door. Only one of the guards was still standing outside, reaching out as if to grab something. He jumped suddenly and another clatter sounded as something fell to the ground. The guard shifted into a bending stance as another source of heat, dashed towards him. There was a flash of heat between them that went out quickly and then the thud of a body hitting the floor. Xena blinked and refocused on the solid door, muscles tensing as the door swung open. She tugged hard at the chains binding her wrists, uncaring of how hard they dug into her wrists or the slick blood that began to roll down her arms.

A tall individual appeared in the doorway, dressed completely in black and wearing a blue and white-fanged theatre mask. Xena widened her eyes in recognition of the design of the Water Tribe spirit known as the Blue Spirit. He lingers in the doorway for a moment and then reaches up to the hilts of the dao swords that peak over their shoulder. She tenses as he draws the blades and stops tugging at the chains as she instead grips them tightly and raises her head high. The braziers flare up around the room as they take a step forward and her eyes gleam a brilliant silver. They falter and then move forward with quick decisive steps, spinning the blades around their body with a humming swish.

Xena forced herself not to flinch or look away as the swords were brought down with deadly force. Her body jerks and her arms fall as the bright steel cuts through the chains with ease. They shift to the side and bring the sword down onto the chains binding her legs to the floor. Her hand drops downwards, rubbing the back of her calf as the masked individual moves to the other side to free her other side. They step back and give her the chance to stand on her own. Her legs are asleep and numb and she grits her teeth as they don't respond. She flinches back as the Blue Spirit grasps her upper arm and pulls her roughly to her feet. She staggers forward unsteadily almost falling. The Blue Spirit steps forward to steady her and then cranes their head back sharply as her left hand flashes up towards his throat. The tip of the scalpel lightly brushes against their throat. Her eyes note the bump that is the laryngeal prominence, confirming a suspicion.

"Let go," she said and he automatically released her and took a step back to give her some space and put room between them. "What do you want from me?"

He says nothing, only sheathing his dao swords before holding his hands out, palms up. Her head tilts, eyes narrowed, and he gestures towards the door. She eyed the open door and then glanced back to him.

"You're freeing me?" He nodded and she considered him carefully and then nodded. "I'll need my swords."

He dips his head again and then at her sharp commands turns to lead. Xena stares at his back with furrowed eyes, stepping over the unconscious guard and noting the empty bucket laying to the side. There is something odd going on here. She flexes her hand on the scalpel and follows him through the twisting empty halls of the fort. He turns a corner ahead of her and her heat sense flicker to awareness to keep track of him. It's the only warning she gets before a door is suddenly pushed open and a soldier steps into the hall, looking down at a piece of parchment. He looks up at Xena and freezes before his hand drops to his sword. She is faster.

He staggers back, hands rising up to press against the wound that gushes blood. He slides down the wall beside the wall, gasping for breath that won't come. The horrible sound it makes floods her ears and she staggers back, staring numbly at the dying man. She's vaguely aware of the Blue Spirit dashing back into the hall and hears him stop short. Xena forces her gaze down and to the side away from the dying man. Her eyes land on the parchment laying on the floor. A letter. Her empty stomach rolls and she lurches away, gagging. What had she done?

The Blue Spirit moves past her silently and she struggles to get ahold of her emotions. There is a noise behind her and the thud of a closing door. Her eyes flicker done to the scalpel and the red that stains its silver blade as well as her hand. What had she done?

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Xena was trained to kill. Her main objective was to always protect the Avatar and if she had to kill then so be it. She had never killed anyone. Never, until now. And it had been so easy to. She relived the moment over and over again in her head as she numbly followed the Blue Spirit, barely noticing when they arrived at their destination as he gently pushed her to sit on the edge of a low table. She flinched as a wet cloth touched her face and closed her eyes as the blood... as her face was cleaned gently by a stranger. The scalpel was pulled from her hand which was next to be cleaned. He moved away from her and she opened her eyes again to stare at her hands. They were clean. She could still see red.

The Blue Spirit returned and stopped right in front of her and she lifted her head to the familiar weapons, he held in his hands. Dual swords and a whalebone knife. She stared at them for several minutes and then finally slowly reached up to grab them. The knife was sheathed in her boot, but when she touched the hilt of Frost she froze. She flexed her fingers around the hilt and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes.

" _I am the Soul of my Swords. Smoke is my body, and Frost is my blood. I have born many trials. Familiar to pain. Filled with courage. I will fight to protect those I love with soul, body, and blood. This, my oath as a wolf warrior."_

She continued to breathe deeply, repeating the oath like a chant mentally until her mind cleared. With one last exhale, she opened her eyes and pulled the swords out of her would-be rescuer's hands and strapped them to her back as she slid off the table.

The move placed her chest to chest and face to mask with the stranger. "Thank you."

He nodded and then is head whipped up towards the armory door. The door swings open and two soldiers entered, joking and chatting loudly.

"-And I said that's a katana."

A deep belly laugh sounded from the other as he dropped a small crate onto the table in the center of the room. Xena and the Blue Spirit slid quietly around the edge of the door and out into the hall while their backs are turned. He takes the lead once more and she follows his quick pace, flexing her hands as she does so, trying to force the lingering tremors away.

" _I am the Soul-"_

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The fort's old abandoned sewage tunnel was full of rushing water that spilled over onto the walkway. The Blue Spirit hadn't hesitated to splash through it and Xena hadn't either. It was cold and she circulated her heat through her body to keep her feet from going numb. Her rescuer suddenly paused beneath a grate and waited for Xena to stop next to him before pointing up. She nodded and he leapt up, caught the iron bars and pulled himself up to look around. It had stopped raining. He nodded his head and pulled himself the rest of the way out, before sticking a hand down to her. She accepted the help and then followed him to the nearby wall. A rope hung from the top of the innermost wall, swaying in a slight breeze. He jumped up first, climbing rapidly and paused briefly to adjust to the movement of the rope as she started to climb up after him. They had only climbed a few feet when an alarm finally sounded, loud and piercing in the night air. They exchanged glances and began to move faster, hand over hand up the rope.

"There! On the wall!" A shout rang out and Xena swore as she looked up to see a soldier running towards where the rope is attached as he drew his sword.

They're not going to make it. The Blue Spirit seemed to have come to the same conclusion as he looked down at her and then the ground. She nodded grimly to him and then loosened her group on the rope. The fibers tore into her hands as she slid down the rope as fast as she dared. There was a clang of metal on stone above as the rope was cut and she kicked off the wall quickly, twisting her body to face away from the wall. She bent her knees as she landed on her feet, twisting her body into a roll. She grunted and grimaced at the pain that lanced through her shoulder. She was gonna be feeling that one for a while.

The Blue Spirit recovered from his own fall and drew his swords, looking in the direction of the gate.

"The prisoner has escaped!" Zhao shouted as he leaned over the balcony. "Close all the gates immediately!"

Xena found her feet and drew her swords as the gates began to grind shut, soldiers armed with spears rushing to block it. "I don't know about you, but I don't really fancy getting caught again. Shall we?"

He responded with a spin of his swords and then charged forward. For a second, her body froze and then with steady breaths and a repeated mental chant, she followed.

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They were completely surrounded by soldiers, but despite being drastically outnumbered only so many could actually get close to them at a time. Xena slid fluidly through sword styles as they went, focusing more on the defense and flexibility of the water and air styles in order to stay mobile. Somehow they managed to get through the first gate before it closed, but they still had one more to go and it was already closed.

She caught a spear with the flat of one of her blades, diverting it to the side, spinning with the movement to kick the soldier upside the head. Once her feet were both on the ground, she jumped right and lunged forward. She stayed in constant motion, twisting and turning around attacks as often as she parried, swords a spinning blur of silver. Something impacted against her back and she twisted instinctively. The Blue Spirit catches her sword with his own and then spun around her back to attack a soldier coming at her from the side.

They brush against each other as they settle in back to back stances. They're out of sync at first, turning the wrong or stepping into one another, but then they find their rhythm and their movements sync up as they learn to read the other's movement from the press of their backs. It's almost like dancing, but more dangerous. It's exhilarating in its novelty. Xena leans into his back, forcing him to lean forward to duck as a sword cuts the air above their bent forms. She rolls completely over his back and as he spins to drag his dao swords across the attacker's abdomen at a low angle, she bats aside a spear aimed at her unprotected back and elbows another soldier in the face as she turns to place her ally at her back again.

However, the closer they get to the gate, the more limited their movements become as the soldiers pack in around them.

"I want the girl alive!" Zhao shout echoes across the courtyard barely heard over the sound of combat.

She spins her swords, cutting through the hafts of two spears, shifts her weight to a lunge and gasps as something sharp suddenly crosses against her throat, forcing her to step back into the Blue Spirit's chest to avoid decapitation. One of the blades still manages to nick her throat, drawing a small scratch. The fighting stops and quiet descended on the fort, save for Xena's ragged breathing. She swallows thickly, flexing her grip on her swords as she lets her arms fall to her sides. There's a moment's hesitation and then finally Zhao shouts again, ordering the gate to be opened.

As soon as the gates grind open, the Blue Spirit begins to back out of them, guiding Xena back with the threat of a slit throat. It's too easy. Far too easy. She pans her gaze across the gathered soldiers, the heat of their bodies indistinguishable from one other in their proximity. Where is Zhao? What kind of insanity plagued him that he would let a half-breed prisoner, who serve no purpose other than as bait for the Avatar, go? A muscle spasmed in her right arm from how tightly she was gripping her weapons.

Red and blues twisted together and she closed her eyes in an attempt to force her mind to focus and sort out the heat signatures. And with eyes still closed she finally saw. Three figures stand in the nearest watch tower, one the brighter red of a firebender and the others... The others each with one arm extended and the other pulled back.

Her eyes snapped open as she shoved backwards, right blade swishing up in an arc. Muddy water erupted out of the ditch, following the motion. A burst of white-hot agony erupted in her shoulder and thigh. The sheet of water solidified into ice a moment too late. Her leg gave out and three swords clattered to the ground as the masked man caught her and lowered her to the ground. She grit her teeth, a hiss of air escaping as the movement jostled her injuries. With a thud a third and then a fourth arrow struck the shield of ice, protruding an inch and a half out the back as fine cracks began to form and spread through it. It wouldn't hold for long.

"You should run," she forces the words out between clenched teeth as he snaps the feathered shaft of the arrow in her leg.

He shakes his masked head in a negative and looks up at the sound of soldiers heading for them and as another set of arrow impact their shield. She groaned and struggled to sheath the sword she still held. He helped her with it and the other one before sheathing his dao swords as well. He then slid one arm under her knees and the other around her back.

"W-wait. J-just let me..." Her eyes silvered over as the crescent moon atop her brow began to glow with a soft light. She reached out her good hand and slowly turned it palm up before raising it as if lifting something. Water droplets lifted out of the muddy ground and ditch in a ten-foot radius around them, hovering in the air before dividing into smaller droplets again and again till a thick white fog surrounded them. It happened in only seconds. Her hand fell limply into her lap and all she knew was darkness.

lxxxXXXxxxl

 _An unsteady thump, thump echoed in her head interlaced with the occasional cracking noise. Searing pain flashed through her body with the jostling movement, making it hard to think past the thick fog shrouding her mind. It felt almost like being underwater. A shadow of black and blue hung over her and above through flashes of black dappled leaves, the pale watery light of the moon shone down on them. Something thick and warm ran down her arm in thick rivulets, dripping from her fingertips._

 _"Damn it. Don't you dare die on me." A muffled voice, somehow familiar and soothing penetrated the thick fog for a moment. "You hear me, Guardian? You're not allowed to die. Not like this."_

 _She wanted it to stop. The pain and heartache. The confliction and confusion. The internal bleeding of wounds reopened with the rusty blade of past regrets and memories. She just wanted it all to stop._

 _Yes, she was underwater and she was drowning. She'd been drowning for over a hundred years, too stubborn to realize she had long since lost which direction the surface was. She was so very tired. Would it really be such a shame, if she was the one to stop? If her heart were to fall silent and finally,_ finally _let her rest._

 _"It's not your time just yet."_

Bathump. Bathump. Bathump. _A warm steady sound, perhaps a little fast, but comforting all the same. The ache deep in her chest eased. Not yet. Just a little while longer. For them, she could hold on._

Bathump. Bathump. Bathump.

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 **I suck. I'm sorry. But here's a chapter to make up for it. Also, I don't what I was thinking making that facebook page, since I'm terrible at using social media, not to mention how odd it probably was for me to choose facebook at the site I wanted to use. So I thought I'd leave it up to you guys and ask if you would be interested in me making a Tumblr page. I can't promise to post anything on it regularly, but I would promise to try.**

 **Also holy shucks, guys. You're all awesome to have continued to read this story. I'm amazed and dumbfounded by how much activity this story has had in the past couple of months. Is there a reason for that? Or is it just my luck. Either way, thank you all so, so much for sticking around and continuing to favorite and follow this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Leave a review if you feel like it.**


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